Industry
Communications, Media and Information Services
Connect. Curate. Comprehend: Unlocking Value Beyond Boundaries
Highlights
- Equifax UK rebuilt its legacy systems, driving growth and enhancing both customer experience and security.
- TCS enabled the migration of critical data and workloads to Google Cloud, successfully decommissioning mainframes and modernising operations.
- The transformation delivered up to 80% reduction in batch processing time, 2X increase in online throughput and over £6.5 million savings annually.
On this page
Overview
Equifax UK, a leading credit reference agency and a global leader in data, analytics, and technology, faced the challenge of modernising its legacy on-premise systems to accelerate growth and enhance customer experience.
The company’s ‘Consumer Data Fabric’ initiative aimed to consolidate all credit bureau data onto a single, cloud-native platform, streamlining onboarding for new products and customers while enabling the decommissioning of legacy mainframes.
To achieve this strategic transformation, Equifax UK partnered with TCS to migrate from legacy mainframe applications to a modern data fabric platform, powered by Google Cloud. TCS delivered an end-to-end solution that leveraged automation and deep mainframe expertise to ensure seamless migration, data integrity, and minimal business disruption. The result was improved agility, scalability, and operational efficiency, positioning Equifax UK for future innovation and growth.
Challenge
Before Equifax embarked on its migration from legacy mainframe applications to a modern cloud platform, the organisation operated within the structural boundaries of on-premises infrastructure.
The primary objective of this transformation was to overcome these legacy-driven constraints while ensuring the continuous, high-standard delivery of existing products and services. While the migration was essential for enhancing agility and scalability, it was specifically designed to alleviate the following infrastructure hurdles:
Integration and compatibility: In the legacy environment, data assets were often siloed across disparate technology stacks. This fragmentation required complex manual intervention to maintain consistent data formats and ensure cross-platform compatibility. These mainframe-driven limitations introduced natural friction in data integration, an issue the move to a unified cloud architecture was intended to resolve .
Versatility and speed to market: Under the legacy model, integrating new and diverse data sets was a resource-intensive process. The requirement for significant capital investment in physical storage meant that expanding the versatility of the data offerings often involved lengthy lead times. This limited the speed at which new, integrated solutions could be deployed to meet evolving customer needs.
By transitioning to the Equifax Cloud™, the organisation has replaced these rigid, siloed structures with a versatile and harmonised data architecture, enabling seamless integration across the entire global enterprise.
Solution
To address Equifax UK’s modernisation challenges, TCS delivered a comprehensive, cloud-native transformation.
By leveraging advanced automation and deep mainframe expertise, TCS ensured a seamless migration to Google Cloud with minimal business disruption and maximum operational impact.
Key solution benefits:
- End-to-end cloud transformation: TCS enabled Equifax UK to adopt the Equifax Global Data Fabric platform on Google Cloud and migrate existing data from the mainframe, allowing the aggregation of data from multiple sources for real-time insights and superior performance.
- Accelerated migration and automation: Automation accelerators and GenAI tools validated data quality, expedited onboarding, and reduced manual effort.
- Legacy modernisation with minimal disruption: Mainframe business logic was emulated within the new platform, enabling seamless migration and consistent data outputs.
- Agile delivery and co-development: Rapid upskilling and a multi-squad delivery model ensured timely, innovative migrations.
- Strategic partnership and trust: Equifax UK entrusted TCS with the entire modernisation program, recognising proven expertise and commitment.
Retiring the two UK mainframes that powered our operations for over 30 years is more than a technical milestone; it is a fundamental shift in how we deliver value. By migrating to a cloud-native data fabric, we have eliminated decades of legacy complexity, strengthened our operational resilience, and unlocked £6.9 million in annual savings to reinvest in innovation. This achievement - one that few global organisations have successfully navigated - is a testament to the team’s expertise and our commitment to building a faster, more secure, and future-ready Equifax for our customers.
Benefits
By partnering with TCS and migrating to a cloud-native platform, Equifax UK achieved significant improvements in operational efficiency, agility, and data management.
The modernisation enabled faster onboarding of new data sources, streamlined application delivery, enhanced security compliance, and improved overall system performance. These changes have positioned Equifax UK for scalable growth and innovation, while reducing downtime and optimising resource utilisation.
Key achievements:
- Up to 80% reduction in batch processing time.
- 2X increase in online throughput.
- Over annual savings from mainframe decommissioning.
- Faster onboarding of data assets.
Through this strategic partnership, Equifax UK was empowered to overcome legacy barriers, accelerate innovation, and build a scalable, future-ready data ecosystem.