IT transformations in the financial sector

When transforming IT in the financial sector, it is important to consider the complex links between the business model, regulations and technical and organisational framework conditions. This is because when IT managers touch an application as part of the digital transformation, the entire financial institution is usually affected. Successful transformation projects in financial institutions therefore require suitable methods, supplemented by specialist expertise and consideration of all relevant dimensions.

Financial institutions are under pressure to change in many areas: regulation, sustainability, customer interaction and, above all, technological disruptions are just some of the drivers of these complex transformations. However, IT transformations in particular often fail to be implemented successfully. The consequences are serious: loss of trust among customers, losses running into millions and the special attention of the supervisory authorities.

Our whitepaper "Taming IT transformations and avoiding chaos" identifies three key factors that unsuccessful transformation projects have in common:

• Many transformations start without a clearly defined target picture or lose sight of it.
  
• IT transformations must simultaneously cover several dimensions in the company - if one dimension fails, the transformation fails.
• For financial institutions in particular, the complexity of the system landscape and the abstract, interwoven processes present an additional challenge.  

Of course, there are also many examples of successful digital transformation. In our white paper, we have analysed their special features and formulated three theses on how managers in financial institutions can successfully shape transformation projects.

1. No success without methodological expertise. A toolbox of methods is required. Only methodological expertise makes transformation projects manageable.
   
2. Method and technical expertise must complement each other. Specialist and industry knowledge is necessary in order to isolate the specifics of a financial institution in a transformation and then work on these with a special focus in the transformation programme.
3. A transformation fails if even one of its dimensions fails. In transformation projects, it is not enough to get most things right. Therefore, in the complex environment of financial institutions, a clear target picture is required from which guidelines for implementation can be derived. These should ensure that all sub-measures are implemented successfully.

Find out more about the complexity and risks of IT transformation in financial institutions in our whitepaper. With our analysis of the reasons why transformation projects fail and our theses on how they succeed, we would like to help you successfully implement your IT transformation.