Overview
“It doesn’t feel like a billion dollars’ worth of technology” remarked the banking CIO as we reviewed his technology portfolio. That was eight years ago and I’ve remembered the moment vividly because it spoke to the vast quantity of technology required to run a bank and the expectations carried upon that technology investment. — John O’Hara, CEO Taskize Ltd.
Has the situation improved? The fourth quarter of 2012, another CIO at another bank considers the challenge of halving the number of applications while still delivering innovation in today’s even more challenging environment. That challenge is not just cost control and facing the rising tide of regulation, but also managing technology delivery functions scattered to outsourcing partners with the concomitant lack of direct control. Then there are the potential competitors; they may be without the depth of capability, but they are free of the associated technology legacy and modes of working. Might competitors use technology more effectively as a competitive differentiator?
Now it is time to be different. It is time to industrialize banking.