Inside ING Direct's IT restructure

ING Direct has restructured its Australian IT division to split out operations and transformation, and promoted its architecture lead to a global role intended to help transform its other banks around the world.

Ben Issa

The bank recently separated its formerly unified IT department into two divisions focused on running the bank and on change delivery initiatives, iTnews can reveal.

The restructure, which coincided with the departure of former head of IT Juan Jose Cebrian at the end of his two-year secondment, sees the two functions now run separately under individual executives. 

Roy Shiladitya is the new head of IT, responsible for the bank's operations, having been promoted from head of IT operations and DevOps.

Netherlands native Wouter Meijs has been brought over as the Australian bank's new head of change delivery, taking control of transformation projects within the business.

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The two executives will work alongside a a yet-to-be-hired chief technology officer, all of whom will report into chief operating officer Simon Andrews.

ING is currently recruiting for the CTO position, which will search for and identify technologies that can be used within the business.

Andrews told iTnews he had decided late last year to take the 80 developers, scrum masters, product owners and coaches out from within the 170-strong IT division to allow them to get change delivered more quickly.

"It's about making sure they're briefing in and building in a cohesive way using lean, agile and customer-centric design principles," Andrews said.

Former ING head of IT strategy and architecture Ben Issa is currently acting in the CTO role while recruitment is underway.

But iTnews can reveal Issa has been hired into a chief architect position with the global group that will see him advise on and help lead architectural initiatives throughout ING's worldwide operations.

Issa, the brains behind the local bank's biggest IT projects in recent years, will work with ING's operations across 10 countries to guide them towards initiatives like the Australian arm's "bank-in-a-box", "zero-touch IT" and its "Lego block" work with Google Polymer for app architecture.

His official title will be chief architect of CNG (ING's challenger and growth line of business). He will report into the COO of CNG Rob Manders.