4 key network transformation areas in enterprises: WAN transformation, datacenter network transformation, campus LAN transformation, voice transformation
Rise in digital means rise in agile networks: As enterprises launch more digital projects, demand for agile and programmable networks rises
Consumers are increasingly demanding a SUPER banking experience
Organizations are transforming manual operations to digital, automated, and smart business processes to achieve business outcomes
There is a useful framework or construct for activities and issues that are critical to an organization’s success. We call these issues “moments that matter.” By focusing on the activities in moments that matter, an organization can ensure that employees and managers are effective in their jobs; it’s also a way to differentiate between hygiene activities and critical activities. Take the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) role or sourcing organization, for instance. Consider the following moments that matter to their success so you can ensure they are equipped for the moments that matter to your company. These moments and activities separate CPO organizations that are highly effective from those that merely go through the motions
Read more in my blog on Forbes
The number of shared services centers is growing, and enterprises are also expanding the size of their existing centers. Why? A key driver is that digital transformation enables shared service centers (also referred to as “Global in-house Centers” (GICs)) to deliver a new wave of business impact to their parent organizations. Digital technologies such as analytics, automation, and other enabling technologies allow GICs to drive their enterprises’ digital agendas. In fact, Everest Group’s market research shows that the share of new GIC setups that supported digital services was 52% in 2018. However, it’s important to note that some GICs perform better than others and deliver superior outcomes in driving digital agendas. What makes the difference?
In Everest Group’s report, “Digital Maturity in GIC – Pinnacle Model Analysis 2018,” we identified the characteristics of what we refer to as “Pinnacle GICs”™ – global shared services centers that stand apart from other GICs for their business outcomes and capability maturity. Pinnacle GICs achieve superior business outcomes because of their advanced capabilities. We study these best-of-the-best GICs to provide insights into key enablers for desired outcomes and investments required for the greatest speed to impact.
Read more in my blog on Forbes
India prides itself on being the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem after the US and the UK. But the country’s techies, it seems, aren’t really sold to the idea.
Fewer than 10% of Indian engineers want to work at startups, according to an employability report by the Mumbai-based pre-employment assessment firm Aspiring Minds. The report is based on a survey of over 170,000 engineers who graduated in 2018 from over 750 colleges in India.
Moreover, India’s startups are caught in a bubble, with nine in 10 failing within five years of founding. “…when the unviable astronomical valuations of startups come down and the dust settles on true business cases, especially in B2C, and when more B2B tech product companies gain traction, more engineers may want to work there,” said Yugal Joshi, vice-president of consultancy Everest Group.
Historically, many companies have gone through channels to communicate about services and products with potential consumers. Insurance companies are a great example of this, as they typically go through broker-dealers, agents or wholesalers. But in today’s world where millennials and younger generations want to engage themselves in the buy, exclusively going through channels is not acceptable. Ideally, these consumers look for an e-platform, an experience on their phone or the Internet in which to engage. They like to do the research themselves and like to make their own decisions. But for companies, providing this kind of experience to consumers is far more complicated than it seems at first.
Infosys CEO Salil Parekh in a recent interview harped on the growing importance of digital services, and how the company plans to ramp up its digital capabilities both organically and inorganically.
Though companies are seeing success, analysts said that a few companies are faring better than their peers. Chirajeet Sengupta, Partner, Everest Group, said that companies which are faring better in the digitisation space are TCS and Accenture.
For more than 100 years, not-for-profit credit unions have effectively provided their members with a wide range of financial services at comparatively affordable rates. However, they’re falling far behind in all aspects of what it takes to compete against large banks and FinTechs in today’s digital world. And, per our recently released report, Future Proofing Credit Unions from the Digital Onslaught, that’s causing credit unions to close at a staggering rate of one every two days.
To be fair, a good number of credit unions have invested in next-gen technologies like voice banking platforms and distributed ledgers, and made other moves to bridge the digital divide.
For example, Canadian credit union Meridian is launching a full-service digital-only bank named Motusbank in spring 2019. One Nevada Credit Union, Knoxville TVA Employees Credit Union, and Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union have begun their implementation of a voice-first banking platform from Best Innovation Group (BIG). The following image shows other digital initiatives in the credit union space.
But overall, credit unions’ digital investments pale in comparison to their competitors. For example, our research found that less than five percent of credit unions in the U.S. have a mobile banking app. And the top four banks in the U.S. spend five times more on technology than does the entire credit union industry.
Credit unions’ move to digital is hampered by multiple factors including dearth of talent and relatively small technology budgets that make it challenging to decide on run versus change investments.
But the biggest hurdle they face is lack of an overall organizational IT strategy for transformation. Their intent to invest and transform is there, but disjointed. This siloed approach fails to create a satisfying omnichannel experience for members. A glaring example is Navy Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union in the U.S. It faced multiple outages from December 2018 to February 2019, during which members couldn’t see the deposits in their accounts, the bank’s phone lines and digital channels, both mobile and online, weren’t working, and reporting delays led to inaccurate account balances.
So, how can credit unions stay relevant and afloat?
Share Costs with Other Credit Unions
We believe a solid short-term solution to delivering a better member experience is moving to a partner network wherein multiple credit unions mutualize costs. In this collaboration, the participating companies would share run-the-business costs. They might even co-invest in or co-secure funding for the latest technologies. One such example already exists: CU Ledger is a consortium of American credit unions that is exploring use cases for distributed ledger technology (DLT); and it’s already secured US$10 million in Series A funding.
A partner network with pooled resources would also create leverage for credit unions to collaborate with technology service providers. In a mutually beneficial situation, credit unions could share run-the-business costs while the providers could gain economies of scale.
Become Experience Orchestrators
In the longer-term, credit unions should embrace the role of lifestyle experience orchestrators. This means that they should orchestrate and integrate their offerings with those of third-party providers, serving as service and product aggregators to offer rich experiences to their members.
This could take on multiple shapes and forms. For example, they could integrate with a local car dealership and leverage data and analytics to recommend and finance purchase and lease options. Members would undoubtedly be more comfortable with their credit union’s recommendations than those from an unknown organization.
Future of Credit Unions
There’s no question that credit unions need to modernize their digital touchpoints to deliver experiences that will retain their members. The types of creative partnerships we outlined above will help them survive – perhaps even thrive – in today’s increasingly competitive and digital financial services industry.
Is your credit union undergoing some type of transformation journey too? Please write to me at [email protected] to share your experiences, questions, and concerns.
In the meantime, to learn more about the future of credit unions and the modernization journey they’re facing, please read our recently released report, Future Proofing Credit Unions from the Digital Onslaught.