Suncorp Metway has started investigating the case for instigating a program to replace its Hogan core banking platform, although chief information officer Jeff Smith also believes there is still life in the legacy technology.Smith said Hogan operated "quite well", but the software's owner CSC hasn't upgraded it in a long time. "We are taking a look at that now, saying: 'Do we want to go and do something bigger?'" he said in an interview with Delimiter.Smith noted more modern options were available from vendors such as Oracle and SAP, although he noted the market was limited. "We are just looking through that now, because it makes sense to do that if they are really good value propositions," he said.But despite the analysis of Suncorp's options, Smith believed there was still life in the old legacy platforms yet, noting it was applications built on top of the core such as internet banking that were important. "Exposing services on this platform is actually quite easy," he said. "We've taken the cycle time down eighty per cent to build a new service on top of Hogan."Drawing comparisons with Commonwealth Bank, which is talking up its preparations for more "real-time banking" Smith described this approach as important, but said it was necessary to look at what the real definition of the term was. "We have real-time banking today in our Hogan system," he said. "You still run batch programs or reconciliation, but even in the new core banking systems, you still do that."Smith noted opening accounts and conducting transactions between systems in the bank's branch and automatic teller machine networks took place in real time even with Suncorp's current platform. One of the main motivators to migrate to a new platform, he said, was the availability of talent to maintain it."We all have to be cognisant that the average age of Hogan developers is in the fifties now," Smith said. "That is a bigger issue for me, because we want to keep people enthused and keep them engaged, but you are running into retirement years, and I think that is a bigger issue than the technology side."I think the big advantage of the new platforms is the ability to do more with them because you have a bigger supply base of individuals and technology that you can use."