Moving on to the next part of our conference, our first segment will focus on EA in the Banking and Finance Industries. We invited two speakers who have worked in a wide range of Banking and Financial organizations on their digital transformation journeys. It’s fascinating to see how this industry has evolved over the years and how organizations are becoming more and more successful in their transformation initiatives, and therefore more operationally resilient as a result.
EA in Banking/Finance – Jack Rudnai (Orbus Software)
Jack Rudnai, managing director for Asia-Pacific at Orbus Software, discussed how Enterprise Architecture drove resilience for various industries specifically Banking and Finance. Jack cited, that 52% of fortune 500 companies from 2000 are now extinct. (Perry 2021). There have been unprecedented challenges and disruptions in different industries due to many factors such as the pandemic. Furthermore, he pointed out that those organizations that proved resilience are those who rose above and set the pace. The last two years, allowed companies to become more digital, sustainable, and resilient.
Globally, there have been massive shifts to digital products and services. Businesses also experienced pandemic staffing, switched to remote work, and closed offices. Moreover, new business models have also risen in the last two years. Technology is part of how we work. To improve and effectiveness of digital transformation, a strong framework must first be established, clarity on where to go, agility to get where you are going, and reliability of foundational activities to get you through the journey.
He further pointed out that, traditionally, technology programs are disconnected from business strategies. However, recently, there have been regulatory changes that have been brought in that every financial institution must comply with to mitigate risks to become operationally resilient. He specified Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a financial regulatory body in the United Kingdom (UK), has recently released a statement that all financial services organizations must ensure that they have visibility in identifying critical applications and vulnerabilities, reliability by defining impact tolerances, and agility by identifying and implementing solutions to address vulnerabilities and meet impact tolerances.
To strengthen an organization’s resiliency, Rudnai stressed the importance of managing the complexity and context of an enterprise with an integrated process, information, and technology architecture.
EA in Banking/Finance – Romel Selerio (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas)
Our next speaker is the Lead Architect of the Enterprise Architecture Team at the Philippines’ Central Bank called the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or the BSP. He will be sharing his insights and experience on what they did to holistically lead and guide the BSP’s Digital Transformation and overcome the initial challenges.
Mr. Romel Selerio shared the Digital Transformation journey of the Philippines’s central bank, formally known as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Their journey started in 2017 with an evaluation of their maturity across Enterprise Architecture Functions and Dimensions. Overall, they scored an average of 1 across the areas on a range of 0 (as non-existent) to 5 (as optimized). They then set out to create a capability model to operationzalize the Enterprise Architecture discipline.
With an initial capability model at hand, they proceed to establish the EA practice within the BSP. They honed further the existing capability model and refined the enterprise principles, standards, and guidelines based on the existing internal and external factors at that time. The team then created the initial architecture artifacts and started to operationalize their EA work. To advance their EA establishment, they piloted two (2) projects to undergo the EA practice. This required the project proponents to present their case to the EA Board and the said board to deliberate and evaluate the projects against established standards and guidelines. The knowledge gained from the exercise was documented and training was provided to the BSP team.
After these initial phases, the team proceeded to implement the EA discipline for the entire organization with the support of key stakeholders with no less than the BSP Governor supporting the implementation. The team shared the EA Framework across all business units. An architecture review board was constituted with members from IT, human resources, risk, and data governance among others. The technical projects now engage with the EA team to consult and provide guidance on the architecture implications of the said projects. The EA team also provides advice for requests for changes in certain technical projects. Lastly, as the team continues building its artifacts, they acquired an EA Repository where they can easily store and share artifacts and aid them in their analysis.
The EA work still continues within the BSP. They found value in the EA discipline by shifting the mindset to projects from an output-based perspective (i.e. focusing on the delivery of technical deliverables and products) to an outcome-based perspective where project proponents justify their projects based on the business goals. The EA discipline has also saved the enterprise from acquiring new software where one’s existing in the organization can satisfy the requirements. Lastly, with the recent changes in leadership, Enterprise Architecture guides the strategic planning exercise of the organization ensuring a clear alignment from top-level strategy to low-level execution.
Proceedings and recordings of the Digital Transformation through Enterprise Architecture 2022 Conference are available for viewing below:
Stay tuned for the next part of the event recap on EA in the Energy and Utilities Industry to be posted next month on Sinag Solutions’ blog and email newsletters!
