Enhance data leverage through automation
In 2019, Mediolanum was managing €43bn in assets across the EU, with a vision to reach €65bn by the beginning of 2022. Their analytics team had tons of data but weren’t able to leverage it as effectively as they’d like due to old-school infrastructure. So, they wanted to streamline processes and scale up. The leadership realised they needed to modernise their legacy IT, demonstrate the value of new technology to the wider business, and digitally transform to deliver world-class user experience. The problem? The European talent shortage of analysts and developers who’re certified in the specific technologies required in asset management is fierce. Quite simply, hiring locally wasn’t an option.
- Location: Dublin, Ireland HQ
- Industry: Asset Management
- Number of employees: 130+
- Partnership since: 2020
The value The Scalers deliver is long term — Mediolanum Bangalore is an extended part of our team, not individuals disconnected in a different part of the world. It’s been fantastic and much smoother than I could have imagined.
Building the team
A relationship built on trust
Their CTO had worked with The Scalers in a previous organisation, so was well acquainted with their model, expertise, and company culture. The leadership knew the skills required, but the difficulty acquiring elite software talent locally meant The Scalers stepped in to help — with India boasting fintech specialists hard to come by in Europe.
Mining for gold
As The Scalers’ CEO is technically minded himself, Mediolanum were secure in the knowledge that they were in good hands as recruitment began. Due to the highly competitive nature of talent acquisition and retention in the fintech sector, The Scalers created a localised employer branding strategy and assets including a microsite with all the information about the company, product and employee benefits — all of it to attract the best engineers in Bangalore and to appeal to interested candidates who wanted to learn more about Mediolanum.
Good things come in threes
After mining Bangalore’s elite talent pool for engineers qualified and certified in the required technology stack, The Scalers’ recruitment team hired an initial three-person scrum team for Mediolanum — a senior data analyst and two data engineers who were all highly qualified in the requisite technologies. Modernising data processes was of utmost priority, to enable data to be presented in a smarter way — creating user-friendly dashboards for other teams to work on. Ultimately, to add value for the wealth managers in the organisation.
Positions hired:
- Data Engineers
- Senior Data Analyst
Technologies:
- Microsoft SQL or T/SQL
- SSIS
- Azure
- Data Factory
- Microsoft Power BI
- Snowflake
- Azure DevOps
Running operations
Embracing a new normal
With the partnership beginning just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the two parties entered a new reality when it came to onboarding the new team. Given the circumstances, this was performed remotely. The Scalers continually interacted and engaged soon-to-join employees to help them integrate into Mediolanum’s organisation and culture, providing things like branded welcome packs — an idea the Dublin leadership have begun to implement there with new joinees. Towards the end of the pandemic restrictions, the office space was procured. And, once vaccinations started coming into effect, teams were able to start coming to the office.
An asset in safe hands
Due to the global nature of Mediolanum’s existing operation, there wasn’t much of a concern about data security in their Bangalore team. Emilen, The Scalers’ CEO, was nevertheless determined to demonstrate the value of the protocols and Mediolanum’s internal security team noted they were first class. Ultimately, The Scalers complied with Mediolanum’s existing protocols in Dublin, ensuring everything was in safe hands.
Overcoming the UK and Irish talent crunch
How businesses can navigate the skills gap at home and scale quickly with offshore talent
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Long-term vision
With more hires set to join the team including a senior data analyst, the Bangalore extension continues to prove its value to Mediolanum’s overall engineering setup and increase the level of service for other departments across the organisation. Additionally, plans are currently underway to migrate to the cloud and to help the existing engineers level up their seniority with bespoke training including in cutting-edge Snowflake technology.
Long-term value
The Bangalore team’s collaboration with Ireland is seamless, with ticket handling easily executed and communication smooth — and experienced hires continually improving internal processes with both Dublin and Bangalore teams learning from one another. Alongside improved data leverage and speed of requests, the new engineers have enabled Mediolanum to improve delivery within the analytics team and across the wider business. No longer limited by local shortages in skills or engineers with expertise in the required technologies, the analytics team is now capable of unlimited growth.
Mediolanum gets an asset
built to last
Mediolanum’s stakeholders remain delighted with the long-term value The Scalers, and the team they’ve built, provide. The CTO now has an in-house team that enables data to be better leveraged — helping to make smarter investment decisions. With the collaboration exceeding expectations and the Bangalore team delivering above and beyond, the partnership continues to blossom and bear fruit with ambitious plans for the future.
Long-term wins
Three-person analyst and engineering team built
Improved delivery across the business
Value-adding modernisation of processes
