Banks are swimming in an ocean of data—trillions of daily transactions on average for some market leaders. Aging architectures make it especially challenging to filter all that data into meaningful insights. One result: reports that are loaded with indecipherable data—making it difficult for stakeholders to get a clear view of financial information and make effective decisions. Deloitte transformation professionals explain how banks can enable business architectures and technologies that boost insights and build competitive advantage. It’s all part of the vision for built-to-evolve Kinetic Banking—leveraging a clean ERP and cloud to simplify and accelerate business.
Finance transformations are won or lost on the institution’s ability to master and control the oceans of data – more pointedly, a common information model. Standing in the way of that model are antiquated systems that require human intervention and rely on spreadsheets, what Rob Ried, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, calls ‘swivel chair integration.’ “We strive to get our clients to a place where technology does the work, so data flows from one system to another with zero manual intervention.”
Having a common information model that can scale will allow companies to design for future growth. Says Mike Hamby, managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP, “Being able to adapt to the future is critical to drive value into the organisation and drive costs down through operations.”
“Finance organisations have started leveraging the latest modern ERP solutions to design and transform holistically with process, data and infrastructure being the driving factors,” says Raj Shivangari, senior manager, Deloitte Consulting LLP. “Innovation is regularly being delivered and finance continues to support the changing needs of the business.”
Mike Hamby agrees, offering a key improvement is found in automating routine processes, which allows finance to become a true partner to the business. “That’s where you can get a more analytical organisation and finance can focus on forward-looking analytics and helping drive decisions for the organisation.”
For Dan Miller, managing director, Deloitte Consulting LLP, an exciting element of a modern ERP for banking is the analytics power it brings to the organisation. “Having access to granular data detail all in one place reduces reconciliation efforts, and streamlines finance function with a whole set of analytics tools that can be embedded into business processes.”
CFOs looking for efficiency will drive towards integrating regulatory reporting into their management reporting. This, says Hamby, allows two things to happen. First, it means banks are proactively managing issues regulators are looking for, and second, they are doing so by utilising a standard methodology. “They are looking at the business from a management view that also considers the regulatory view. Having that mindset gives banks the ability to optimise reporting not only through tools, but also making sure that they are tying back to the common information model.”
Shivangari still sees finance institutions struggling to trust the modern ERP technology when it comes to data integrity, defaulting to spreadsheet macros – and ultimately human intervention – to manage the data. “They’re not adapting to the latest technologies that are available to analyse the data for them, and provide inputs to what they need.” He recommends that organisation embrace the latest technology since regulatory requirements feature prominently in the modern ERP.
While banks are getting their houses in order with technology, cloud technology and platform-as-a-service models are enabling the institutions to embed their processes into their customers’. Miller offers trade finance as an example, and the mostly manual process of approving finance requests. “A PAAS platform allows organisations to then connect and share through secure APIs. It’s a real opportunity to expand the ecosystem.”
In Ried’s experience, industries of all kinds are looking for more strategic banking partners and reduce their banking costs. Cloud technology and PAAS are great opportunities to embed micro services across the customer ecosystem. They are also opportunities, says Shivangari, to help clients who want to be responsible with their data, and secure it within their walls cost effectively. “This gives peace of mind when interacting with third-party businesses or customers. It’s a great platform for any organisation to enable this innovative technology and not build technical debt.”
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