IBS Journal May 2015


Washington, DC, Oracle Industry Connect 2015


software and passing it on to the mobile and online banking applications. The goal is to make the top layer (mobile, online and whatever else to come) as thin as possible, so that adding new channels or functionalities becomes an easy and inex- pensive task without any major impact on the back office, whilst the OBP component – sitting in the middle – acts as a flexible and robust enterprise service layer (see p42 for more details). The digital strategy was high on the


agenda throughout the event. Courting the ‘millennials’ requires more than just new technology, said Hurd, it requires a whole new mindset. The new generation’s expectations, mindset of interacting with the services providers and the use of tech- nology is completely different to what we have known before, he stated. Emails are becoming the thing of the past for them. Complaints to the provider are no longer something you do over the phone and the issues can be broadcast right away to the whole world via social media. If a mil- lennial is unhappy with a product or ser- vice, they will move to another company without a moment’s hesitation. Attitude to work is unlike that of their parents: the millennials do not consider earning more


money as their key driver, but rather strive for flexibility and a better work-life balance. All these factors cannot and should not be ignored, Hurd warned. And whilst some verticals, such as


retailers, have been fast movers, the bank- ing sector has been lagging behind. Unlike retailers, who are operating on very tight margins, banks ‘have traditionally made a lot of money’, Hurd observed. There was no business case for being lean, and the banks have ended up with siloed organisa- tions and siloed IT. ‘So a customer is sitting in many databases, there is no single view. Add to that all the AML, KYC and other reg- ulatory requirements, plus legacy in-house built systems, and it becomes a nightmare.’ Furthermore, in the past, whenever


there was a threat, the answer (at least in the US) had been a merger. But this is no more, as the regulators are putting a stop to that. ‘Now the banks have to learn a new word: compete.’ And that means invest- ment in differentiating technologies. ‘We see some banks doing some new things, but there is no clear leader,’ Hurd observed. Oracle pledges support to those who tru- ly want to innovate, he emphasised. ‘Show us an aggressive innovator and we’ll help them to get where they want to be as fast


© IBS Intelligence 2015


as we can,’ he proclaimed. ‘There is no other company in the


world that invests more in R&D for dedi- cated business applications than Oracle,’ Hurd stated. ‘We invest $650 million each year.’


There is also drive to improve the


overall sales process. Bob Weiler, EVP, glob- al business units, Oracle, said that the ven- dor has hired around 3000 graduates over the last year, the majority of whom went into ‘direct sales’. And as many institu- tions have multiple contracts with Oracle across various business lines, an attempt is being made to streamline the process and assign key account directors that can see the full picture and manage the rela- tionships. There might have been a sales overload sometimes, Weiler admitted, cit- ing an example of a CEO of one mid-tier company receiving sales calls from 35 dif- ferent sales people from Oracle’s various business units. This is being addressed, Hurd assured. ‘Our customer satisfaction is on the rise.’ Procedures are being put in place to ensure that ‘the sales people real- ly know the products and understand the industry they are selling into. We start with people, and then move onto everything else.’


www.ibsintelligence.com 41


conference report


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