Challenges
National Australia Bank (NAB) embarked on a comprehensive digital transformation to adapt to evolving market dynamics and expand its market share within Australia. As part of this initiative, NAB pioneered a cloud-first approach and sought to internalize its engineering capacity. Previously relying on third-party vendors scattered across Australia, India, and Asia, NAB aimed to streamline operations by consolidating its engineering capabilities outside of Australia in one country. The challenge lay in seamlessly transitioning ongoing work while mitigating risks and ensuring scalability without compromising quality.
Approach
Our Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) partnership with NAB commenced in 2019 with the ambitious goal of scaling from 0 to 150 headcount within the first year and establishing a dedicated NAB office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. After successfully reaching this milestone, our next challenge was to grow our team to 300 and 600 members in the subsequent years, while also launching new offices in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. This journey culminated with the BOT transfer after 3.5 years.
For Australian businesses considering a similar dedicated setup, explore how a dedicated offshore development center can be structured around a long-term ownership pathway.
For more on establishing the foundations for a new offshore operation, see the first 90 days of offshore development.
The BOT team worked on many areas of the NAB ecosystem including:
- Borrowing power calculator tools
- Loan modification simplification & digitization
- Fraud detection
- Digital assets foundation
- Identity & access management
- Mobile Banking
- Everyday banking
- Open Data
Why Build Operate Transfer fit NAB’s objective
- Consolidating distributed engineering capability into one strategic location – Vietnam
- Scaling a dedicated engineering operation without compromising continuity
- Building toward internal ownership, rather than permanent vendor dependency
For more on what that ownership path involves, read our blueprint for owning an offshore engineering hub in Vietnam
Client’s Quote
“With the support of the CBTW APAC, we’ve been able to tap into the fast-growing technology talent in Vietnam which is helping NAB deliver critical projects which are improving experiences for our customers every day. Thank you to the CBTW APAC team for building and developing our innovation centre into the highly capable team it is today”
Steve Day, Chief Technology Officer of National Australia Bank (NAB)
BOT Overview
- Duration: 3.5 years
- Team Size: 600+
- Client Location: Australia
- Team Location: Ho Chi Minh City & Hanoi, Vietnam
- Working Model: BOT
- Transferred: Yes
For readers comparing different offshore delivery structures, this guide explains what an offshore development center is and the different models and ownership stages.
What Australian technology leaders can take from the NAB model
- Scale operating capability, not only headcount: As teams grow, engineering leadership, governance, delivery practices and operating structure need to scale with them.
- Consolidate capability without disrupting delivery: A successful transition needs to bring people, processes and delivery into a more unified model while maintaining continuity, quality and risk control.
- Build with eventual ownership in mind: If ownership is the end goal, governance, infrastructure, IP and operating responsibilities should be structured for that outcome from the outset.
