Leadership should be ready to embrace new organizational models that help development teams contribute not only new ideas but also to encourage experimentation.  Developers in banks should know that it’s okay to experiment, because innovation doesn’t always happen in a planned or serial way. This means encouraging participation and accepting risks which isn’t easy in an industry that traditionally is hierarchical and risk-averse.

Within banks, cloud platforms can offer technology needed for banks to be more collaborative and to try out new ideas quickly. That can be critical, given the increased competition, not only from challenger banks, but also from large technology companies who are providing seamless digital banking services with their own platforms. 

A cloud platform that spans the old and the new

Advancements in cloud technology means that traditional, cloud-native and serverless applications can be combined together so that teams are not fragmented across various generations of technologies or different cloud providers. This can create a more adaptive business, enabling better collaboration to speed up the processes by which an idea goes from storyboard to production without being hindered by the technology of the past.

However, it isn’t combining old and new technology together that can be a catalyst for innovation. it is also about removing rote work that gets in the way of meaningful collaboration. Cloud technology can be a powerful tool to accelerate organizational transformation by reducing the time for internal vetting and quickly responding to feedback. It speeds up the delivery process so that experimentation can thrive.

Unlocking innovation requires free sharing of ideas across business, marketing, technology and compliance functions. The disconnect between these groups can stunt idea creation and restrict the potential of capabilities in the bank. A cloud platform that brings together people and technology can bring harmony and lead to innovation in the market.

Putting ideas into action

One North American bank, which provides retail banking and wealth management products and services to more than 12 million customers, is using the cloud platform as a means of accelerating software delivery across the organization.  

Determined to remain a leader in their market, the bank took on the vital task of integrating the customer experience across channels. It adopted microservices architecture and used APIs to integrate both internal and external systems.. Along the way, the bank realized its API capabilities needed enhancement, including not only how to build those APIs, but the tools needed to deploy them. 

The bank selected Red Hat OpenShift as its cloud platform, using containers as a means of packaging and deploying APIs to OpenShift. It also defined a way for the organization to integrate new software practices across the board, from planning to coding to building, as well as testing, releasing, deploying, operating, and monitoring. Today, the bank’s APIs are a key asset for successfully addressing its digital strategy.

Becoming an open organization can help you become more creative, productive, adaptive and ultimately more competitive. Continue reading about Red Hat’s perspective on organizational transformation, and discover how to modernize both the technology and organization that powers your bank’s business.


About the author

Eric Marts is a financial services leader at Red Hat. Prior to joining Red Hat, Eric shaped solutions globally in the Retail Banking and Wealth Management business at HSBC. He has more than 20 years of professional experience across both startups and incumbents. He is particularly interested in unlocking new market opportunities and making financial services simpler and more inclusive for customers with cloud technology.

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