Horizon Technology: A blueprint for innovation and efficiency

Thought Leadership

18 Feb

Horizon technology is driving a recalibration across financial services. Guided by a need to drive efficiency, firms are scrambling to maintain pace with competitors - or innovate beyond them. The integration of these technologies enhances productivity, mitigates operational risk and creates new opportunities for financial institutions. Failure to adopt horizon technologies could result in a loss of competitive edge and increasing inefficiencies across the enterprise over time. To achieve long term resilience and growth, organisations must take these technologies seriously and begin formulating ways to implement them across the business.

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Authors

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Andrew Ng

Partner

Chris Turner

Consultant

Horizon Technology: A blueprint for innovation and efficiency

Industry participants must consider three simple but key questions when approaching horizon technologies: the ‘what’, the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. An understanding of what financial institutions want to achieve and why it is integral to their success will dictate the technology selection process and how it will be delivered.

However, the effectiveness of these initiatives depends on a holistic understanding of operational requirements and resultant changes induced by implementing relevant technologies. A comprehensive evaluation of organisation demands enables the strategic allocation of resources and a focus on business-critical rather than ‘nice-to-have’ factors. Some horizon technologies have the potential to transform core business functions, but achieving enduring success is dependent on which technologies are addressed and implemented first. A misguided approach may discourage further ventures and negatively impact long term organisational aspirations.

What value can a programme focused on practical innovation and efficiency realise?

Realise fast and continuous benefit
Unlock front-to-back efficiency
Enhance customer experience

The approach to establishing a horizon programme depends on the maturity of each technology, so the first step should be to perform a current state review across the organisation to assess how mature each horizon technology is and how applicable it is to existing processes and systems.

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