Industrialization Lessons for the European Banking IT

Abstract

Faced with a second crisis in 3 years, European banks are fighting for survival. To meet stringent EU capital requirements, banks are reevaluating their portfolio of businesses, selling off noncore businesses, and looking for optimization, cost savings, and revenue growth all at the same time. Bank COOs and CIOs are expected to wave the magic wand that will cut IT costs while delivering business-critical IT initiatives, and sustaining run-the-bank quality and service levels. While European banks have lagged behind their US or UK counterparts in streamlining their IT or in adopting global sourcing and partnering approaches, the current situation calls for some big leaps rather than baby steps. If we look back to the crisis faced by leading German carmakers in the 1990s and how industrialization, sourcing, and strategic partnering helped them rebound, we see important learning for European banks as well as for providers. Global and Indian providers looking to grow in Europe need to stop force-fitting approaches that worked in the USA or UK. Each country has its own regulatory and business setup, with additional challenges of language and cultural differences and stringent labor laws. European banks need results—and they need them fast! Now is the time for the providers to step up the game: localize their local know-how and presence, understand the specific stage of IT maturity of the bank, and prepare the appropriate sourcing and partnering models with financial approaches that can help banks get tangible results within the short to medium term.