Japan’s first cloud core banking system by BIPROGY with Support for Mission Critical

BIPROGY and Microsoft jointly developed the world’s first open-source core banking system based on Windows Server and SQL Server

BIPROGY has been a provider of solutions for over 60 years, building systems that support society and industries in Japan since it delivered the country’s first commercial computers. With an eye for its purpose of “creating a sustainable society using foresight and insight to unlock the full potential of technology,” BIPROGY has been accelerating ongoing efforts to resolve social issues and create new value beyond simply providing ICT services.

BIPROGY considers the financial sector as the cornerstone of its focus area. BIPROGY has accumulated many achievements in developing software products for financial institutions as exemplified with the development of Japan’s first online banking system. Notably, BankVision, as an open core banking system operating upon Windows Server and SQL Server, is highly regarded in the industry where the norm is core banking systems operating on mainframes, and appreciated as the world’s first significantly innovative system.

“BankVision has been highly rated by customers saying that it is easily-modifiable, highly available, and conducive to cost reduction. BankVision has been in operation without major problems since the commencement of operations in 2007. This is intertwined with the trustworthiness of the solution from customers,” says Mr. Kazusa Ohno, General Manager, Service Platform, BIPROGY Inc.

Mission-critical systems that assume core banking duties at financial institutions can have drastic impacts on society from even the slightest problem. With an eye on reducing risks, BIPROGY has worked in tandem with Microsoft since the company launched the project for developing BankVision. Microsoft has continuously supported BIPROGY with mission-critical support programs dedicated to BankVision upon request from BIPROGY since its initial operation.

BankVision now serves 12 financial institutions across the nation, being massively conducive mainly from the viewpoints of promptly implementing management strategies as well as flexibly supporting strategies for branches and channels and centralized back-office banking duties, and reducing total cost of ownership (TCO).

Initiative to develop a cloud version of BankVision based on Microsoft Azure, in line with the trend of utilizing cloud technology

A turning point came in the mid-2010s for BankVision. Cloud services were rapidly spreading in the market. Systems benefiting from cloud computing enabled prompt and flexible services in various industries.

Ms. Miwa Takayanagi is Manager, Advanced Infrastructure Development & Service, Service Platform, BIPROGY Inc., managing the Infrastructure Services Department for financial institutions. Ms. Takayanagi recalls saying, “In those days, cloud computing could not be ignored as it was a notable trend in the technology space. Needless to say, we had already verified it from an early stage with an eye on deploying a next-generation platform in a cloud environment.”

Ms. Takayanagi says that cloud computing was on the radar at financial institutions that appreciated cloud platforms for the ease of data management and operation as well as scalability.

“With cloud services prevailing in the market and constituting a trend, we and our customers were on the same page of thinking. We saw sentiment rising to develop a core banking system in a cloud environment,” says Ms. Takayanagi.

This is how BIPROGY made a development plan for enabling BankVision to operate on cloud infrastructure.

“However, cloud services were still in their infancy, so there were some concerns,” says Mr. Takeshi Higashiyama, Section Manager, Fundamental Technology Office, Advanced Infrastructure Development & Service, Service Platform, BIPROGY Inc. who oversees the creation and maintenance, and support of BankVision infrastructure.

Mr. Higashiyama says, “The scheme was to let the provider of the cloud environment handle system layers for which we provided on-premises support. We were concerned about the risks of losing control of the system due to its becoming a black box.”

BIPROGY chose to dispel those concerns by selecting Microsoft Azure. Microsoft's public cloud became the platform for operating the cloud version of BankVision.

Dependability from system comprehension and reliability developed through long-standing support arrangements constituted the clincher for choosing Azure

Mr. Higashiyama disclosed the reason for trusting Azure saying, “The first reason for choosing Azure is its high affinity with Windows. Furthermore, our expectations for support from Microsoft gave us a boost in the decision.”

“We had a level of trust and confidence in the reliability of Microsoft expecting that we would have information promptly shared about Azure and receive support in an event of trouble in the solution, as well,” says Mr. Higashiyama. His team came to trust Microsoft through the relationship that predated the BankVision development as well as experiencing the value of mission-critical support during the BankVision development.

Mr. Ohno joins Mr. Higashiyama in citing a strong sense of trust in Microsoft.

"During our long relationship with Microsoft, we have seen that the company has a deep understanding of the unique financial sector in the Japanese market. It is noteworthy that they understand our priorities and those of our financial institution clients," says Mr. Ohno.

In this environment, the two companies launched a project for developing a cloud version of BankVision in April 2018. The system, referred to as “BankVision on Azure,” was the nation’s first example of implementing a full banking system in a public cloud environment.

Support for Mission Critical (SfMC) optimized for BankVision on Azure

BIPROGY implemented Premier Support for Partners, an enterprise service provided by Microsoft, which tunes the cloud service to the end-to-end product life cycle in terms of planning, maintenance, support, and optimization.

The additional use of Support for Mission Critical (SfMC) was advantageous for optimizing support arrangements for BankVision on Azure. The enhanced solution was implemented by a mission-critical support team dedicated to specific solutions.

“We drew our designs for architecture. We received technical support through reviews partly by engineers of Microsoft Corporation and advice on the first-time host migration. Furthermore, the 24/7 support enabled us to promptly reply in response to inquiries from end users. Thus, we were able to perform a platform migration without major troubles,” says Mr. Higashiyama.

Ms. Takayanagi says that her team could address with composure a problem where operation management software communications were suspended in the wake of modifying the Azure load balancer, immediately before the production run.

“The situation was unexpected, but since Microsoft took part from the phase of reviewing the structure of BankVision on Azure through SfMC, they promptly located causes and identified measures to take,” says Ms. Takayanagi.

Cloud services such as Azure are always subject to repeated improvements. Prompt and flexible responses are needed. Unquestionably, support providers are expected to be well versed in the target system. The remarks from Ms. Takayanagi and Mr. Higashiyama indicate that SfMC in the BankVision on Azure development project could prove its real worth to the fullest.

Ms. Takayanagi says, “Customer Leads among the support engineers of Microsoft Japan show their extremely high skills in taking care of BankVision on Azure. They know the characteristics of core banking systems and give us the best advice by taking into account the most up-to-date information at Microsoft, with stability as the first priority kept in mind. This gives us a great sense of security.”

Mr. Ohno highly appreciates SfMC for the support, saying, “In an event of a problem taking place in the financial industry, it is imperative to identify a cause and prevent recurrence. In some cases, it is necessary to clearly explain to the authorities on the cause and countermeasures for improvement. The SfMC team members also understand that this constitutes part of the nature of the industry, and we highly appreciate that.”

Remaining best partners and working in tandem towards optimal solutions

BankVision on Azure has continued to serve more financial institutions steadily since its release. On the other hand, some financial institutions believe in the stability of on-premises systems, according to Mr. Higashiyama.

With continued efforts for providing improved services applicable for both, Mr. Higashiyama intends to “prove the enhanced stability and quality of cloud services through accumulated operational performance of BankVision on Azure.” He expects that this will “increase options for customers and thus improve customer services.” He continues, “For that reason, we look forward to Microsoft providing us with a stable cloud service.”

Adding to Mr. Higashiyama’s comments, Ms. Takayanagi is looking for enhanced security and information disclosure.

“It is crucial to promptly obtain information and support for BankVision on Azure in an event where the system suffers a trouble. This is very important for us to further use BankVision on Azure with peace of mind. We will envision a next generation of BankVision while working even more tightly together,” says Ms. Takayanagi.

The company introduced Microsoft Unified in 2024 as an enterprise service to replace Premier Support. Unlike Premier Support, which is limited to specific departments, Microsoft Unified’s enterprise service is applicable to the entire company, so it provides a broader range of support. 

Mr. Ohno talks about future prospects saying, “We are deliberating how we can use it across the company. We expect it to help us address changes in fundamental technologies and movements in society.”

“We foresee various risks partly from labor shortage, cyber security issues, and natural disasters in the future. We will need additional technological capabilities to maintain and enhance the value of our services in the future. I hope that Microsoft will continue to be our best partner to help us think together about effective use of technology and tool combinations, including the use of AI technology,” says Mr. Ohno. 

BIPROGY’s style of business in accompanying customers has delivered onto the market an innovative product for open core banking systems. The company is sparing no effort to always improve in line with trends in society and changes in the needs of customers. The direction of the company is aligned with the continuous support provided by Microsoft.

We as well will always ask ourselves what we can provide other than products, with an eye on increasing the value of services to our customers. We will continue to enhance the robust support arrangements and escort the company.