Why Financial Services Need to Adopt Lean and Agile Principles

Finance Derivative brings the latest News & Analysis from the finance world and corporate excellence. The magazine targets an audience of finance professionals and corporate and private investors. 

Philip Farah, AVP Head Digital Transformation Services, Global Accounts at World Wide Technology (WWT) contributed this article to the outlet.

The financial services industry is going through major changes as it prepares itself for a digital future.

With the pandemic in play, social distancing rules drove digital uptake amongst consumers as most highstreets banks were closed, forcing many people to manage their finances remotely. As society has adjusted to this change, and 'banking through a screen' has become the new normal, financial services institutions are feeling the pressure to integrate new technologies that will meet the demands and expectations of digitally savvy customers.

Prior to the pandemic, it took IT teams in financial services up to 18 months to release a new product. However, with increasing customer demands for digital services combined with the backdrop of the pandemic, this is not fast enough. Speeding up this process is a key challenge for the financial services industry – and one that needs more attention.

This is where adopting lean and agile processes as well as DevOps processes that bridge the gap between Application Development and Infrastructure Operations, which are used by some of the most advanced technology companies in the world, can help.