Reducing Operational Risk with Mizuho
Mizuho upgrades its Oracle technology to remain supported, reduce operational risk and take advantage of the latest patches and features.
Introduction
Mizuho Bank is a leading global bank with one of the largest customer bases in Japan, being one of the three so-called Japanese “megabanks”, and an extensive international network covering financial and business centres around the world. They pride themselves on their “customer first” principle as a centrepiece in servicing both their individual and corporate customers, with the goal of becoming their most trusted bank.
Mizuho Bank is the integrated retail and corporate banking unit of Mizuho Financial Group, one of the largest financial services companies in Japan, providing financial products and services to a wide range of clients, including individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, large corporations, financial institutions and public sector entities.
Client Profile
Overview
In 2021, Mizuho had reached a point where a number of components of their Oracle landscape were very close to the “end of life” and moving into sustaining support. These included:
- Oracle Database (12c)
- Oracle Business Intelligence Applications (11.1.1.8.1)
- Oracle Hyperion EPM (11.1.2.4)
In the case of Oracle Hyperion EPM, the migration to the EPM Cloud Suite was the strategic longer-term option. Mizuho has acquired the Oracle EPM Enterprise Cloud Suite, replacing their on-premises EPM footprint which went out of premier support in December 2021. This migration provided considerable business benefits and resulted in significant IT hardware and software maintenance cost savings.
Another headache for Mizuho was the approaching end of extended support for:
- Operating system (Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) version 6)
- Database (Oracle Database version 12c)
This was causing problems from the continuity point of view and raised serious questions and issues during internal and external audits. Version 1 has upgraded both the OS and the database, resulting in:
- Supported components within the technology platform and reduced operational risk
- Simpler and less intrusive path to the Fusion Applications and associated technology
- Significant benefits provided by performance and stability improvements
Mizuho also requested their Oracle Financials, EPM, BI and Database on-premise support to be compliant at least until August 2025.
Version 1 has upgraded the following Oracle components for Mizuho:
- Oracle Database
- Oracle BI for Applications
- Oracle BI Enterprise Edition
- Oracle Data Integrator
- EPM Planning (to EPM Cloud Enterprise Suite)
- EPM Profitability and Cost Management
- EPM Data Relationship Management
- EBS 12.2 Technology Only Upgrade
The bank now has a supported platform across the complete Oracle Stack, with full Oracle support till 2025.
Challenges
- Upgrade of out of support Oracle BI Applications 8.1 to 10.3, bringing the client into full premier support
- Customisations in Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) – full understanding of the customisations in Oracle Business Applications (OBIA) was critical to the delivery of the upgrade since 15% of all customisations were created manually
- Enterprise Performance Management Architect (EPMA) was decommissioned in EPM 11.2
- Metadata realignment was required
- Documentation on existing setups, which is the key to successful and timely delivery, was non-existent
- CPU Patching was not up to date, so ensuring the latest patch sets are applied.
- Understanding the clients IT policies/ procedures – especially in a tech upgrade project, big blockers or delays can be caused due to security access to servers and databases
- Several OCI-based systems didn’t have adequate security and on occasion, Version 1 has had to take rectification steps (sometimes urgent) to reduce the risk profile on these systems.
- Ensuring the right security protocols for access were in place (configuring IDCS with active directory)
- Engaging customer’s experts for domain-oriented tasks. Tasks like data validations require a sound understanding of the business domain. As a technology partner, Version 1 can provide technical expertise but not domain expertise. It was imperative to set the right expectations from the beginning and ensure Mizuho’s domain experts enrollment in the project team
Solution
- Upgrade of a number of components of Mizuho’s Oracle landscape, operating system and database
- Replacement of on-premises SaaS Planning solution with cloud-based planning and budgeting and business analytics solution, thus future proofing the solution indefinitely
- Metadata realignment through Oracle’s Data Relationship Module (DRM) across the Hyperion stack
- Since Enterprise Performance Management Architect (EPMA) was extensively used by Mizuho, Version 1 designed a workaround using Cloudbridge – our own solution for data orchestration
- HPCM Applications Automation moved to 11.2.6
Real Difference, Delivered
- Supported platform across the complete Oracle Stack, with full Oracle support till 2025
- Reduced operational risk
- Simpler and less intrusive path to the Fusion Applications and associated technology
- Significant benefits provided by performance and stability improvements
- Better transparency of integration processes
- Oracle’s Data Relationship Module (DRM) is now used as the golden source of metadata across the Oracle Stack
- Ownership of Go Live Cutover for the Upgraded Stack
- Log4j patching security advisory released by Oracle implemented within the project timescales
About Version 1
Version 1 proves that IT can make a real difference to our customers’ businesses. We are trusted by global brands to deliver IT services and solutions which drive customer success. Our team of difference-makers work tirelessly to provide independent advice and deliver impactful changes to help our customers navigate the rapidly changing Digital-First world we live in. Our greatest strength is balance in our efforts to achieve Customer Success, Empowered People and a Strong Organisation, underpinned by a commitment to our values. We believe this is what makes Version 1 different and more importantly, our customers agree.
