Modernize your legacy processes with low-code intelligent automation
Sep 8, 2022 by Cliff Gerber
While the regulatory agenda has dominated operations and technology spend ever since the 2008 crash, emerging technologies aimed at automation, rationalization and simplification have changed the end-to-end trade life cycle.
Many firms have reduced back-office touchpoints, removed operational risk and added controlled, auditable processes by leveraging low-code intelligent automation (IA) platforms (e.g., Pega, Appian, Outsystems, UiPath, Unqork).
Spreadsheet-based activities or end-user computing (EUC) used for tasks such as client onboarding or fixing trade breaks have become industrialized with low-code IA tools, making platforms scalable and adaptable to new regulations. According to a recent Gartner survey, this trend is likely to continue and by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by enterprises will use low-code or no-code technologies (up from less than 25% in 2020).
However, despite firms’ best efforts manual practices still exist, as certain legacy processes are too expensive or too difficult to upgrade. Regulatory remediation often requires quick-fix solutions that, invariably, end up as permanent features of the technology ecosystem. Discretionary budgets are shrinking as firms seek to remain compliant, overlooking investments that could drive new revenue, optimize existing processes, or reduce total cost of ownership (TCO).
Financial services organizations are now at a unique junction of economic, industrial and technological innovation. While many banking and capital markets firms are getting on with their low-code automation journey, less farsighted companies are just getting started. In a recent Harvard Business Review survey, only 41% of respondents said their organization employs IA to a significant extent, indicating room for greater adoption.
For the business and technical reasons shown below, now is the time for banking and capital markets firms to fully adopt low-code automation and AI capabilities by selecting a suitable low-code application platform (LCAP). And then setting up a cross-enterprise LCAP center of excellence and focusing on two or three key use cases for immediate implementation.
In order to reap these benefits, Luxoft recommends that firms establish a low-code intelligent automation center of excellence that helps business leaders envision new opportunities, set standards and best practices, and share information with stakeholders. While it’s important to adopt low-code automation quickly, firms still need to proceed carefully. Organizations should first map out where they want to go, assessing existing capabilities and current challenges. They can then perform a gap analysis, highlighting the difference between current capabilities and the demands of the most challenging solution the organization might take on. Finally, firms should select a meaningful, but achievable, first-target use case that shows tangible benefit to business and technology stakeholders.
While the initial planning work might seem daunting, initiating and integrating IA in the right manner will enable the organization to weather today’s volatile environment while preparing for the inevitable next wave of change.
If you’d like to discover how Luxoft can help your firm navigate your low-code intelligent automation journey, visit luxoft.com/services/intelligent-automation or contact financialservices@luxoft.com. We’d welcome the opportunity to go over the benefits you can expect in your unique situation and the excellent business potential going forward.