Agility Areas of Action in Finance IT - A Memorandum

Getting an organization to a sustainable level of agility in order to cope better with digitization is a transformation in its own right, which touches upon many areas. From the viewpoint of an IT department, we regard these five dimensions as paramount to improve towards increased agility: stakeholders, culture, spaces, IT architecture & processes, and employees.

Typically IT departments place a high priority on IT architecture and processes. This is displayed in initiatives such as establishing "agile" delivery process models like Scrum or the evaluation of cloud computing architecture. But organizational infrastructure is equally important, of which physical spaces are direct manifestations. In many organizations we observed how effective it is to design working spaces consciously - despite a proliferation of outsourcing. Regarding any change initiative through the lens of the organization's cultural fabric helps in tailoring and setting realistic roadmaps. Finally, with an increase of digital touchpoints, customers and value chain partners come into direct contact with a financial organization's IT assets and capabilities, which also mandates different skills than in previous times.

In summary, we develop the following four overarching ideas within this report:

1. Agility is more than Scrum: An agile company habitually scans the environment, interprets incoming signals, acts upon decisions, and moves faster than the competition. While Scrum, XP, and other "agile" delivery approaches incorporate these four defining components of agility, there is much more that IT departments can do to become agile. We regard stakeholders, culture, spaces, IT architecture & processes, and employees as crucial agility areas of action.

2. Engage with your stakeholders: Companies increasingly rely on external value chain partners to offer great services and to run their business processes efficiently. What is more, employees demand consumergrade simplicity for the tools they use. And finally, your customers expect powerful software and capabilities that previously were confined to a select few. Truly engage with your stakeholders and open up your IT systems to cope with this new reality.

3. Any change runs deep and needs space: Putting desks on wheels does not make your workforce more agile. To instil sustainable agility - that is, to become more outside-oriented and structurally flexible - you need to understand the organizational culture and tackle strategies, goals, norms, and rules associated with it. Still, networked businesses that draw from constantly changing resources from within and outside, need effective physical working spaces more than ever.

4. Invest in infrastructure and people: Systems delivery and operations is the home turf of any IT department. Shamelessly copy from leading cloud providers when streamlining your IT architecture, and confidently capitalize on the wisdom of your employees when redesigning your technology stack and processes for increased agility. Also, invest in your people and listen to their needs.