Building Bespoke IT Systems For Banks Has Never Been Easier Or Faster

The case studies section of the IBA Group website is always filled with some interesting real-life examples of companies using technology to improve the way their business operates. I saw an interesting new one recently that detailed how a budgeting system for a European bank was created and installed by the IBA team.

This connected with me because my own background is in banking technology. I was once the global head of equity trading technology for a major European bank and the director of technology for a different bank in Europe.

What stood out to me when reading the case study was that it initially looked like a bespoke problem. The bank had some very specific requirements that meant an off-the-shelf budgeting system would not be compatible with their needs. However, the eventual solution did actually use the IBM Cognos analytics toolset as a platform.

When I was running a major banking technology team we were building everything in house. I had a development team in several different countries and support teams located near to all the major global stock exchanges.

The expense to the bank was obviously huge. After I had left, I kept in touch with some of the team and I learned that the bank eventually switched to an industry standard platform. This could do about 90% of what the bank needed, with some bespoke coding to customize the system.

This sounds exactly like the approach with IBM Cognos. If a bank, or any other major business, says they need a budgeting system then there will always be some very specific requirements that are particular to this company, but there are now platforms available that can do almost all that is needed.

The magic in modern IT systems is finding a systems integrator who really understands the various platforms, finding one who knows how to customize it effectively, and then finding one who can also support the platform and customization on an ongoing basis.

The old days of maintaining a large internal team of analysts and coders sounds very archaic when so many different platforms now deliver a very detailed service right out of the box. Naturally, almost all of these systems are now delivered via the cloud as well so there is no installation requirement or local infrastructure.

Looking at this case study and thinking back to my own IT management experience gives a strong contrast. When I was running a team there was a really strong need for our internal expertise to be very good, our business knowledge to be good, and for everyone on the team to always be watching for changes in the technology.

Much of this involves managing people and their careers. Now the business that needs a solution can focus much more on the business solution they need, working with a partner to find the most powerful platform, then figuring out which customization is required.

Local expertise inside the bank is less important because a tool like IBM Cognos delivers most of the solution anyway. Analysis for what is missing will be essential, but this can be performed together with the IT partner.

It’s a new world that shows how quickly enterprise IT solutions can be designed and delivered today – immediately delivering huge improvements in productivity.

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