The new overall plan for Fontus has been approved. At the user group meeting on October 27, 2026, WM Datenservice presented further details on the implementation. For the participating institutions, this initially provides some relief in terms of resource planning for 2027. However, a binding go-live date has not yet been set. The migration process is also being reviewed again.
Relief in 2027 – Planning certainty for 2028 will not be available until the middle of next year
According to WM Datenservice, the institutions will not need additional budgets or resources for customer testing in 2027. However, preparatory work will still be required. The actual customer testing phase is scheduled to begin after the completion of internal acceptance and integration tests. WM plans to define the procedure, duration, test data, and prerequisites in mid-2027 in collaboration with the customers.
In doing so, WM is at least indirectly taking into account the heavy resource burden on the institutions. In particular, the European transition to T+1 in October 2027 will tie up significant project capacity.
At the same time, planning for 2028 remains subject to uncertainties for the time being. WM has announced individual client meetings as well as a semi-annual assessment of each client’s readiness status.
This could present a challenge: Due to repeated delays, some institutions have put their Fontus projects on hold or allocated resources elsewhere. How quickly these activities can be ramped up again depends largely on a reliable timeline. Client readiness is therefore likely to become an important indicator of whether the plans of WM and the institutions are sufficiently aligned.
Go-Live: Will the Migration Take Place in Several Phases?
A potential change is also emerging regarding the migration process. An internal task force is currently examining whether the migration can take place over several regular weekends instead of a single extended weekend.
This also calls into question the previously discussed go-live scenario for Easter 2028. WM does not intend to set a binding migration date until mid-2027, in consultation with its customers.
It remains to be seen whether a transition in 2028 is still realistic or whether the migration might be postponed until 2029 or beyond. The guarantee of continued host operations through 2030, as already announced in September, provides some flexibility.
New Architecture Decision and Approved Master Plan
WM Datenservice has now confirmed the previously announced Fontus Execution Engine (FEE) as the central processing component. The decisive factor was the results of an externally validated comparison of two proofs of concept, in which the FEE proved particularly convincing in terms of performance (40 minutes versus six hours for processing 27 million data records) and development effort.
The new master plan has also been fully budgeted and approved by the relevant committees. WM aims to complete development in 2027. The FEE is expected to be ready for testing in the second quarter and fully operational in the third quarter.
Furthermore, WM intends to anchor development more firmly in-house and, in the long term, also use the new architecture for AI-supported services.
Joint implementation will be crucial
With the approved overall plan and the architectural decision, WM has laid the groundwork for the project’s continued progress. For the institutes, however, the key question remains: when will this result in a binding migration roadmap that can be implemented jointly?
The announced readiness assessments can help identify potential bottlenecks early on. It must be noted, however, that the institutes’ level of preparedness has also been affected by the previous schedule delays.
The challenge now lies in aligning WM’s technical progress with the institutions’ available project capacities. Especially following the repeated rescheduling, reliable coordination between both sides is likely to be crucial for the continued success of Fontus.
If you have any questions or need immediate assistance, you can also contact our team directly at: fontus@dps.de
Our Capital Markets team has been covering the topic of Fontus since 2024 in nine additional published articles. You can find a list of the articles here.
