Nine out of 10 IT leaders in financial services believe their firm will need to invest in digital projects over the next two years, just to survive in a rapidly changing market.

This is according to a survey conducted by low code specialist Mendix among 350 IT leaders in the UK financial services industry, which found that these changes require juggling between customer-focused initiatives, improving productivity and operational efficiency (76 per cent); harnessing data (90 per cent); and solving compliance challenges (71 per cent).

Despite this need for innovation, IT teams often find themselves slowed down by their own tools and processes, with legacy systems (35 per cent) cited as the biggest hurdle to change.

Close to 90 per cent of respondents considered that security was another key consideration when rolling out any new technology, while a quarter admitted that the risk of service disruption induced by a project is the greatest hurdle. Yet, two thirds of IT leaders believe the value of digital transformation initiatives outweighs their inherent risk.

Most IT leaders agreed that customer-facing staff understand client needs better than their department (73 per cent). The report stated that given the right tools, these employees can collaborate with the IT department on digital transformation projects, enabling organisations to design services that suit the needs of their customer base, while reducing the pressure of an already-stretched IT team.

Nick Ford, chief technology evangelist at Mendix, said: “When it comes to digital transformation projects, the financial services sector is among the most forward-thinking, and it’s clear that the industry is ripe for more innovation.

This puts huge pressure on limited IT staff who barely have time to keep the lights on,” he continued. “Luckily, there is a genuine appetite from financial services employees to participate in the creation and development of digital transformation projects – and by enabling more collaboration between the IT team and other divisions, financial services companies can tap into the collective knowledge of their whole workforce.”

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