Effectiveness confirmed

The IT and SAP consultancy performs all core processes correctly and to a high standard of quality and meets the criteria set out in IDW PS 951, thus confirming the effectiveness of the service-related ICS. Innobis' (development) bank customers can thus fully rely on secure processes and an effective control system when outsourcing operational processes.

Extended appraisal

Certification according to IDW PS 951 includes two audit areas, which are divided into types: Type 1 concerns the appropriate structure of the ICS, and Type 2 concerns compliance with the defined controls. Innobis is fully certified, i.e. in both types. The focus of the audit is shifting more and more from the assessment of functionality to the complete proof of the planning and implementation of the internal controls of the core processes. Providing this without error throughout the entire scope is highly demanding, both in terms of design and in the daily operational execution of the processes.

Arne Schultz, Head of Development and Integration Services at Innobis, explains: "We are delighted that Ebner Stolz recognizes our performance in the area of ICS and rates our application management with such a good result. As our customers operate on more and more regulatory 'fronts', such a certification represents a great added value for them, as it relieves them from having to conduct their own audits in these complex subject areas."

Scope and procedure

The ICS examined at Innobis comprises the ITIL processes of incident, problem, release, change, configuration and test management as part of the maintenance, further development and technical support of development and production systems. This includes SAP banking modules as well as customized add-on modules including online portals for end customers. Holger Klindtworth, Partner at Ebner Stolz, says: "For six years in a row now, we have been conducting audits of the internal control system at Innobis. What is most visible is the constant further development and expansion of the ICS." Back in the mid-1990s, Innobis was the first service provider in Germany to introduce SAP FI at a domestic (development) bank. At the same time, the idea for a highly integrated, SAP-based processing system followed.