Darren Skanson
2.0 EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
Information technology will emerge as a critical competitive weapon over the next five years as banks rely increasingly on new business models rather than new product lines to succeed, according to a global survey of business leaders.
Speed of execution on strategy and innovation was identified as the key management challenge facing Banks over the next five years, and more than four-fifths of respondents said that technology will be critical to the Bank's ability to adapt its business models and implement strategy. Nearly three-fifths said IT is becoming more of a competitive tool, rather than simply a driver of cost efficiency.
To succeed in 2010, Banks will need to adapt faster to changing customer demands. As Banks increasingly focus on their core business, they will be ever more dependent on an integrated network of partners and suppliers to meet customers' requirements of flexibility and convenience.
IT will play a strategic role in helping Banks efficiently and cost-effectively build and swiftly adapt to customer demand. We are entering the next wave of computing where IT is aligned with business and used as a driver of competitive advantage rather than simply a tool to drive down costs.
The survey also indicates that companies will increasingly turn to IT as a competitive tool for better predicting customer behavior. Respondents cited changes in customer needs and behavior as the single most significant challenge to product and service innovation that companies will face over the next five years. Nearly 40 percent said they expect to invest in improved customer relationship management capabilities to help meet that challenge.
Many of the competitive benefits of IT flow from its ability to capture, communicate and analyze information, the survey indicates. Respondents said that between 2005 and 2010, they hoped to see the most improvement in access to the right information at the...
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