msg, one of Germany’s largest IT consulting and system-integration companies, has formalised a strategic alliance with Marco Polo, a distributed trade finance network.This alliance marks the first time the global IT firm is partnering with a trade finance DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) network. As one of the top partners of SAP – the market leader in enterprise solutions, msg has an excellent track record in developing and implementing key digital solutions, and was recently awarded SAP’s Partner of the Year in Financial Services, and the Industry Innovation Award.
Powered by the award-winning distributed platform from TradeIX and R3’s Corda blockchain, Marco Polo allows participants to offer and access a complete suite of trade and working capital solutions in one place. Today, Marco Polo is the largest and fastest growing trade finance network with over 35 financial institutions and partners such as Microsoft, Pole Star and Accenture.
msg’s SAP expertise, together with Marco Polo’s innovative trade finance solutions offer a perfect fit for synergistic collaboration across trade and many aspects of the global financial sector.
This collaboration focuses on developing SAP-enabled solutions and extensions that will facilitate seamless integration, user experience, and real-time data exchange between an organisation’s ERP systems and the Marco Polo Network. This data flow automation enables organisations on the Marco Polo Network to manage multiple funding programs across different jurisdictions and parties as well as keeping their ERP systems updated in real-time for flexible cash flow management and accurate demand forecasting.
This partnership opens up significant opportunities for both Marco Polo and msg’s clients and partners, particularly in the insurance and financial sectors to co-develop and provide innovative insurance offerings on the network, alongside already available financial products, through a unified portal and managed service.
Rob Barnes, CEO, TradeIX, says: “We are delighted to have a dynamic and agile partner like msg coming on board the Marco Polo Network. This is a truly symbiotic relationship in which we are able to mutually complement each other to achieve our common goal of architecting a truly collaborative ecosystem not just across trade finance but the entire financial industry.”
Bernhard Lang, Executive Board Member, msg group, adds: “Marco Polo is a great example of how companies are stepping forward to cooperate in developing new digital products and services. This cross-industry business model is being driven by key digital technologies, such as DLT, that are bridging the gap between business and technological networks. Our partnership with the Marco Polo allows us to contribute our deep knowledge and capabilities in SAP and DLT, to support enterprises evolve from monolithic ERP silos to interconnected digital networks.”
