Understanding the process
It's important to note that the platform itself may not necessarily provide many new features or functionality but rather acts as a catalyst for faster innovation, increased flexibility, and the ability to do more in the future. In other words, the true benefits of the change are only realized once it’s fully implemented. That means you can’t ‘trade’ the change for business development, and you have to manage the project in a way that enables your company to add new services or products during the transition. Suspending innovation during this process is not an option for a bank that wants to remain competitive and meet the needs of its customers.
1. Plan and set goals (but be adaptable)
When transitioning to a new core banking platform, careful planning and goal-setting are key to ensure a successful implementation. To keep pace with innovation, it's important to incorporate a culture of agility and adaptability into your planning process. This includes creating a well-defined roadmap that outlines the tasks and milestones you want to achieve but also allows for flexibility to adjust the plan as new ideas and opportunities arise.
By taking this approach, you ensure that your innovation efforts are aligned with your business goals and remain on track despite unexpected challenges or obstacles that may arise during the implementation process.
2. Evaluate and prioritize continuously
Suppose you are in the process of transitioning to a new core banking platform and identify an opportunity to launch a new digital product. This is an exciting prospect for your business, but you also have to consider its impact on the change project. Launching a new digital product will require additional resources, which affects the project’s timeline and budget. But not innovating at all isn’t an option if you want to remain competitive.
To manage this effectively, assess the impact of the new digital product on the transition and prioritize tasks accordingly. This means identifying the resources required (such as team members, budget, and technology) and evaluating how they will affect the project’s timeline. Consider the benefits and risks of each decision to determine the best course of action. With effective prioritization and evaluation, your bank can continue to innovate while ensuring the success of the platform change.
3. Use a Safe-inspired approach
While traditional approaches such as the Waterfall and Agile methodologies have their strengths, they aren’t ideal for this kind of project. Instead, consider adopting a Safe-inspired approach. The Safe-inspired methodology is a project management framework designed to facilitate the delivery of complex projects in a consistent, efficient, and effective manner. It combines agile and lean principles and provides a holistic view – taking into account both the technical and business aspects of the project.
With the Safe-inspired approach, you break the project down into smaller, manageable chunks you can tackle in sprints. This enables you to focus on specific tasks and goals, which help make steady progress towards your overall objective and makes prioritizing easier.
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PRO INSIGHT: One of the primary benefits of the Safe-inspired approach is that it enables you to manage a core banking platform change and maintain innovation simultaneously. The method allows for flexibility and encourages continuous improvement throughout the project, meaning you can continually introduce new products and services while the change is ongoing. |
4. Understand the impact on capacity and energy
Undertaking a significant project like changing your core banking platform requires a lot of resources, time, and energy from your business as a whole. Even if you strive to maintain the same innovation pace as before, the reality is that it will slow down during this time. Accepting this fact is crucial to managing the project effectively.
To handle the capacity and energy of your team and resources, it's important to focus on value-based approaches. This involves evaluating tasks based on their potential business value and aligning them with your goals and objectives. By doing so, you ensure that you are making the most of the resources available to you. A value-based approach also helps you avoid wasting time on tasks that do not provide significant value. Instead, you can focus on the tasks that will drive your business forward and achieve your desired outcomes.
5. Use tools and systems to evaluate changes
It's crucial to evaluate the value of every proposed change to the system. This is where tools and systems like Return on Investment (ROI) calculators and Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) come into play. These tools can help you analyze and prioritize the tasks that add value to your business.
- An ROI calculator is a tool that estimates the potential financial gain or loss of a particular project or investment. You can use it to compare the costs and expected returns of different projects or changes. When evaluating a proposed change to your core banking platform, an ROI calculator can help you determine whether the benefits of the change outweigh the costs and whether it is worth pursuing.
- An MVP is a product or feature that provides enough value to the customer while requiring the minimum possible resources and investment to develop. By focusing on MVPs, you can test and validate proposed changes to your core banking platform quickly and efficiently. This approach enables you to evaluate ideas based on real data and make informed decisions about which ideas are worth pursuing.
While it's crucial to prioritize innovation and manage ongoing projects during the transition, changing to a new core banking platform involves a broader set of considerations. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the entire process, we invite you to explore our detailed guide on how to successfully implement a new core banking platform.
