Citigroup is still recruiting IT integration specialists, and it's not the only one

In 2009, when various banks were dealing with post-merger technology challenges, integration specialists were hot property. Surely, two years down the line, these roles are done and dusted? Maybe not.

Amid its Q2 earnings presentation on Friday, Citigroup revealed that it was still spending lots of money on something called Project Rainbow - a huge undertaking to stitch together its disparate IT systems and re-write all of its consumer software.

In the UK, Citi is still recruiting for project manager and business analyst roles related to this initiative, but there are also development roles for Project Rainbow in Dublin and Budapest. There are also opportunities in the US and, particularly, Asia-Pacific.

And it's not the only bank still taking people on for these types of projects. According to recruitment sources, RBS is still dealing with its ABN Amro integration, Lloyds is still hiring techies as it digests HBOS and BarCap is still hammering out IT issues related to Lehman Brothers' technology platform.

Bradley Wood, partner at financial technology consultants GreySpark, says that he's been working on IT integration issues related to RBS's acquisition ABN Amro for over three years, and expects to these projects to continue for another 18 months.

"Technology integration is not simply picking the right systems and sewing them together, it's more about how IT platforms can then be enhanced to affect business processes," he says. "After the initial outlay of work, many of these projects can therefore last for many years."

In some cases there are also cross-border regulatory concerns, suggests Wood. At RBS, for instance, some IT modifications are acceptable to the Dutch regulatory, but not the more stringent requirements of the Financial Services Authority. It's therefore about finding a "fit for purpose" system to appease both jurisdictions, he says.

Financial technology recruiters we spoke to suggest that many contractors working on these integration projects are beginning to see the end of road. However, talk has already turned to how their skills can be re-assigned to the technology challenges emerging from the new wave of regulation.