Financial services firms have long taken a conservative approach to innovation as they must balance any progress with ensuring stability, data security, and identity protection. Furthermore, the need to progress technologicallyhas been somewhat limited as the entire sector took a methodical approach to IT expansion, alleviating any pressure to make major strides forward. A recent study from Corporate Insight explained that new competitive dynamics across the financial services sector are creating an environment in which innovation is becoming essential, and firms must look outside of the sector for guidance.
Looking beyond industry boundaries
James McGovern, vice president of consulting services at Corporate Insight, explained that looking beyond the usual parameters of the sector can help firms engage customers.
"To compete in today's marketplace, financial services firms must embrace innovation and create new and more compelling digital experiences that engage consumers and inspire loyalty," said McGovern. "That means looking beyond traditional competitors -and the financial services industry itself -when considering ways to improve the web and mobile experience offered to both clients and prospects."
Gamification, augmented reality, new education methodologies, and cutting-edge document management capabilities were all identified as key trends that financial services firms should pay attention to.
"Balancing control with progress is critical in the financial services sector."
Turning innovation into reality
Balancing control with progress is critical in the financial services sector, and application development platforms housed withinbusiness process management software can help organizations achieve this goal. At its core, BPM software provides process automation, standardization, and optimization capabilities that can streamline collaboration and establish clear parameters for how data moves across different borders within your organization.
With that foundation in place, an app development platform can provide pre-built packages of code that can be mixed and matched to create unique apps quickly without having to write new programs. This lets technology and business users solve problems fast, get solutions into production quickly, and make updates in a hurry if any vulnerabilities are discovered. These low-code tools can be combined with more traditional development methods to create highly customizable apps with relative ease.
App platforms drive innovation by empowering financial services to quickly create internal or customer-facing services, but those capabilities are housed within the organizational and procedural structure set forth within the BPM platform. This ensures that financial services firms achieve the balance they need to maintain stability and innovation.
