APPLICATION: Repository Implementation -- To better serve its 10 million customers, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto, Ontario, needed to build a data warehouse system with all the latest information management technologies without converting its legacy DB2 databases running under MVS on IBM mainframes. Management wanted to make use of existing hardware and software and yet have a companywide data repository.

A team led by Mike Velshi, senior vice president and CTO, Kevin Butcher, manager information resource management, and Mohammed Rafaie, manager of data management, selected Repository/MVS from Platinum Technology Inc., Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., to meet this goal. Platinum's Information Management Consulting Group developed a methodology for the metadata management process including management planning, data warehouse development, end-user metadata management, data dictionary conversion, applications component documentation for impact analysis, reference data management and data rationalization.

The developers needed a solution for getting the information to the users' PC desktops. They created a Web interface so users with Pentium and 486 Windows 95 PC desktops could gain access via Netscape Navigator.

The bank selected Tango Enterprise, the visual Web application development tool from EveryWare Development Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, according to Rifaie. The Web side was built by developers from EveryWare Consulting Services.

The completed data warehousing system now provides the bank's executives, managers and staff with access to data needed to make business decisions and serve customers.

- Rich Seeley