Key challenges facing IT in the financial sector q
Discussion
I have been asked a question and i am a little stumped, a friend has been askend to answer this questions and i need some suggestions to help answer him as i have been out of the IT loop for a little while.
Please outline the key challenges facing the technology sector within the
financial services industry over the next 5 years.
Any suggestions appreciated!
Gareth
Please outline the key challenges facing the technology sector within the
financial services industry over the next 5 years.
Any suggestions appreciated!
Gareth
as was said:
Security
Integration
Standards Compliance
Customer Retention
.............
my 2 pence
business continuity
disaster recovery
mergers and aquisitions
centralising data
staying on the upgrade path (assuming you're MS)
software compliance and FAST/BSA
what ever the FSA decides to throw at you (so having a compliance officer might be a good thing)
i may think of more........
Security
Integration
Standards Compliance
Customer Retention
.............
my 2 pence
business continuity
disaster recovery
mergers and aquisitions
centralising data
staying on the upgrade path (assuming you're MS)
software compliance and FAST/BSA
what ever the FSA decides to throw at you (so having a compliance officer might be a good thing)
i may think of more........
Questions is vague enough to have many good answers. Not sure what they mean "technology sector" within the fincial service industry ... do they mean IT sector companies who have customers in financial services, or do they mean the siginificant in-house IT resources held by the financial services?
Risk/Capital adequacy measurement and regulatory reporting have been mentioned already ... know-your-customer type of stuff may well be in the ascendant too.
Old but gold ... as financial services' business activities become comoditised, they need to do more business more cheaply to remain profitable, so "straight through processing" of transactions is crucial. It is old hat as a buzzword, but it still on most banks' list of things to do. Also comoditisation can lead to electronic trading taking over from brokers, so expect to see more on-line interest and credit rate derivatives, and OTC options.
Prime brokerage services are also having to raise their game as there buy-side customers become more sophisticated and demanding ... so offering better, quicker execution and reporting on a reliable, cross-product real-time platform will no doubt soon become an entry requirement for this market.
But ... truth is the biggest IT challenge to a bank is almost certainly their own ability to plan and manage change. In my experience, most banks' systems are a terrifying hotch potch of crap that has been thrown together in a series of panics. Bugger all design, bugger all documentation.
>> Edited by ATG on Monday 18th October 17:49
Risk/Capital adequacy measurement and regulatory reporting have been mentioned already ... know-your-customer type of stuff may well be in the ascendant too.
Old but gold ... as financial services' business activities become comoditised, they need to do more business more cheaply to remain profitable, so "straight through processing" of transactions is crucial. It is old hat as a buzzword, but it still on most banks' list of things to do. Also comoditisation can lead to electronic trading taking over from brokers, so expect to see more on-line interest and credit rate derivatives, and OTC options.
Prime brokerage services are also having to raise their game as there buy-side customers become more sophisticated and demanding ... so offering better, quicker execution and reporting on a reliable, cross-product real-time platform will no doubt soon become an entry requirement for this market.
But ... truth is the biggest IT challenge to a bank is almost certainly their own ability to plan and manage change. In my experience, most banks' systems are a terrifying hotch potch of crap that has been thrown together in a series of panics. Bugger all design, bugger all documentation.
>> Edited by ATG on Monday 18th October 17:49
atg's right
that's why the centralised systems (where possible) help a great deal
it allows the rapid roll out of systems, updates, mergers and ease of control/management of users
documentation is key too, but its only ever as good as the last change
so, again, as atg said, change management, change control and anticipation are all the kind of things that sould be mentioned
have you looked at ITIL?
boaring as hell, but very buzzy right now
have a look at gartner and idc sites too, they give ideas of trends and predictions, you could get a few tip offs there
that's why the centralised systems (where possible) help a great deal
it allows the rapid roll out of systems, updates, mergers and ease of control/management of users
documentation is key too, but its only ever as good as the last change
so, again, as atg said, change management, change control and anticipation are all the kind of things that sould be mentioned
have you looked at ITIL?
boaring as hell, but very buzzy right now
have a look at gartner and idc sites too, they give ideas of trends and predictions, you could get a few tip offs there
plotloss said:
Security
Integration
Standards Compliance
Customer Retention
Cant think of another...
I sat through a presentation by the CTO of Barclays last week and those were his main themes.
Reg compliance & Standards compliance can be banded together and don't worry too much about SAS standards, BASEL and that SoX malarkey, it's all a pain in the arse and is getting in the way of most financial industries (speaking as someone who does this compliance *&(% between decent jobs).
The next couple of years will be focussed about delivering all of the above on smaller budgets with a larger regulatory burden so creativity is the order of the day.
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff