• Terry Ewin, VP EMEA at IPC


• 19.05.2021 04:15 pm
#financial #fintech #trends

The lean and agile revolution can be described as a set of principles and practices for working that aim to minimize waste while maximizing value. This enables organisations to make quality, as opposed to quantity, a priority in their products and services.  

When it comes to the fintech industry, lean and agile principles have helped mould the industry into what it is today. In years gone by, financial organisations would embark on large development projects which would require months, and sometimes even years, to complete from start to finish. However, the development of lean and agile principles has enabled the fintech industry to dramatically increase the rate at which technology is adopted by businesses that operate within the industry. For example, organisations that have already been embracing agile software development for a number of years have seen a significant decrease in the time taken to market for technology adoption and new features. As a result of this, the fintech industry has pushed the envelope and evolved rapidly.  

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, collaboration tools and remote working have been adopted by organisations throughout the world. This will cause an even greater need for agility across businesses, not just when it comes to pure development purposes. Adding to this, lean concepts will also spread throughout other business processes and not just research and development (R&D). These principles will stretch to project management before eventually becoming a part of the selling motion. At IPC, we’ve observed that this is taking place within the company as well as among our customers, with the need to support new trading models and rapid technology adoption aided by an API-first approach and open platforms. 

Nevertheless, adopting these new business models is far from straightforward. Transitioning between models and systems is never easy. Although you may claim that your organisation is agile, this is not the same as it actually being agile. The process of moving to agile isn’t necessarily a smooth one and must be planned carefully over a considerable period of time. One of the main challenges when it comes to implementing these new business models is learning how to manage the interdependencies of major developments, as well as how to fit these major developments into smaller buckets. Training and evangelising various teams in lean and agile is also far from easy. 

Despite the fact that adopting new business models is a challenging process, organisations within the fintech industry should not hesitate to implement lean and agile models and systems. Companies risk being left behind by their competitors if they fail to adapt quickly enough. As such, it is only a matter of time before legacy systems fall away and become entirely obsolete.