Recent research from the banking sector suggests that more IT investment doesn’t necessarily boost profits, but targeted investments in particular areas might.
A recent benchmarking survey, which is conducted annually with a dozen banks, has shown that investing more in IT is not as important as investing smartly. Executives should spend wisely, not necessarily more on IT.
The latest responses gleaned from a small set of executives in each bank (almost 40 executives in total) covered a range of variables, including the amount spent on application development, the level of IT effectiveness, and the bank’s overall profitability. The data showed no significant correlation (only 14 percent) between the amount spent on general application development and the banks’ bottom lines. Whereas, it appears that investing in particular areas of IT functionality—for instance, in the automation of back-office processes and in customer analytics and big data—can boost profits.
67%
36%
As highlighted, smart investment in automation will give the highest return on investment as would investing in the opportunities that big data present. Big data is the latest buzz word but big data is useless until it has been analysed and turned into actionable information, information that you can use to make informed decisions, and improve overall profitability.
