Situation

Perpetual Limited relied on an aging TRIM system with multiple integrations to line-of-business applications, used by 400 employees across Sydney and Melbourne. The system, identified as a Perpetual critical system as it manages vital client records, including trust and mortgage records, was approaching end-of-life. Customers such as major banks depended on Perpetual to secure both digital and hardcopy records while managing funding allocation. Trust is a vital tenet in the Perpetual client relationship. Perpetual explored transitioning to SharePoint but found it unsuitable for the stringent requirements of compliance and vital records management. Additionally, the organisation lacked the skills and resources to maintain such a system internally.

Task

Perpetual needed a partner capable of:

1. Upgrading their TRIM system to a modern platform while maintaining seamless integration with existing applications.
2. Transitioning the system to a secure cloud environment.
3. Providing ongoing management and support as a service, including assurance audits.
4. Ensuring the upgraded system adhered to rigorous security standards, including ISO27001 certification.
5. Providing ongoing upgrade services throughout the contract period.

Action

Perpetual selected iCognition to manage the upgrade and transition to a secure, Azure Central-based Ingress solution. To ensure business continuity, iCognition implemented the project in two key stages:

• Lift and shift
  The existing TRIM system was migrated to iCognition’s Ingress cloud platform. An initial dataset copy was tested in a pre-production environment for upgrade compatibility, integration functionality, penetration, and performance. This environment underwent extensive user acceptance testing (UAT). Once UAT approval was secured, the production environment was created by replicating the tested setup over a weekend.
• Transitioning integrations 
  A key part of the solution is a custom data loading and reporting interface that were successfully transitioned to the new platform. This included setting up replicated databases to allow reporting systems to provide vital client and compliance reports.
• Security measures
  Security remained a top priority, with multiple assessments including penetration, vulnerability, business risk, and technical risk evaluations conducted. iCognition also committed to ISO27001 certification as part of the project’s risk management strategy.
• Ongoing assurances
  Annually, iCognition participates in a KPMG audit to assess and assure the effective design and operation of controls within the system. This includes an audit of robust procedures for data integrity, risk management, and compliance with control objectives. effectiveness of these services are supported by rigorous testing and assurance processes, highlighting iCognition’s commitment to maintaining high-quality, reliable, and secure operations.
• Ongoing upgrades
  iCognition provides ongoing upgrade services to ensure the system maintains technological security standards and provides new functionality.

Result

Perpetual successfully transitioned to a highly secure Ingress platform, ensuring business continuity and compliance with industry-leading security standards. The upgraded system, supported under a strict service-level agreement (SLA) with iCognition, met the organisation’s critical requirements while reducing internal resource dependencies. This robust solution strengthened Perpetual’s capacity to manage clients’ vital records securely and efficiently, and with ongoing upgrades will maintain software support and manage security risks.