In this hour-long webinar, Cutter Consortium Senior Consultants Hubert Smits and Peter Borsella introduce the Industrial Agile Framework — a framework for applying Agile to physical product delivery (for example, cash registers, integrated circuits, cars, or …).

This continuation of my previous Executive Update series encompasses my experience with this method of project management beginning in 1992 and continuing with successive waves of improvements across five different organizations — two in the consulting business and three within university CIO offices. Here in Part IV, we look at metrics V3 and V4.

We cannot measure organizational agility from a simple definition. We must break down this definition into some measurable elements and build a measurement tool around those elements. Luckily for us, many scholars and others have worked on developing such tools. In this Advisor, we explore one of them.

Several factors are leading the fintech revolution and affecting technological innovations. These include cryptocurrencies, tokens, initial coin offerings, blockchain, and other security advancements (i.e., multifactor and biometric authentication). The ability of the financial services industry to experiment with these new technologies responsibly is an essential component of their future success and sustainability. The disruption affecting innovation in the financial industry is also driven by the pervasive connectivity that characterizes today’s telecommunications sector, enabled by the diffusion of Internet access worldwide and the integration of the Internet with other sensor-based technologies, forming the Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure.

We have learned that the cloud has enabled a shadow IT to emerge. That sounds scary (mostly to the IT people), right? But we have also learned that shadow IT is not totally a bad thing, as long as there is communication, coordination, architecture, and governance. We discuss this shadow IT more specifically in this Advisor.

The bad news is that wildfires worldwide appear to be increasing — both in frequency and intensity. The good news is that the electrical utilities are applying AI for the inspection and analysis of critical infrastructure in an effort to detect and prevent wildfires caused by extreme weather, encroaching vegetation, and infrastructure failure.

We have learned that a big part of the motivation or benefit for going to the cloud is agility. Call it flexibility or scalability if you want, but “agility” is a bit broader and evokes the principles of the Agile movement. The cloud allows you to try something, fail, and move on to something else with relatively less severe consequences. The cloud does not require you to calculate with high accuracy the amount of resources you will need, or the length of time you will need them. You should be able to scale up and down, to add and remove services, to get the latest updates, and so on — without having to do the work yourself.

Most organizations will experience a large security incident at some point. The difference between an organization that survives and thrives following an incident versus one that flounders can be summed up in one word: preparation. Athletes, emergency responders, performers, and many others practice for hours before the main event. So why do organizations not do the same for security incidents? Urgent timelines, high stress, uncontrollable events, and scrutiny from customers, regulators, press, and investors are surely good reasons to put better preparation practice in place. While many organizations have a disaster recovery and business continuity plan, few focus on preparing specifically for a large security incident. In this Advisor, we examine the preparation of a strategic incident response plan.

This article takes us into the insurtech platform world and describes how incumbents must adapt their business models and processes to exploit technological opportunities to remain competitive. The authors suggest that the definition of “platform” can extend from a purely technological definition to a more integrated one, and they explore ways incumbents can benefit from the capabilities insurtech offers.

This Executive Update explores some tools and techniques that have been used to successfully deal with and manage a hidden culture.

This Executive Update explores some tools and techniques that have been used to successfully deal with and manage a hidden culture.

For almost 20 years, cloud and related technologies have been transforming entire industries. Interestingly, most of the discussions around transformation tend to focus on the technical aspects, technical solutions, platforms, and various as-a-service offerings. Although the technology perspective is very important, it’s not the most critical. Truly transformational projects require a much broader perspective. In this Advisor, we explore the impact of cloud-enabled transformation on product lifecycle, processes, and organizational culture.

Many organizations are now focusing on a hybrid cloud strategy: moving part of their IT capabilities to the cloud, while maintaining core elements in-house, hosted on-premises. The hybrid model is becoming immensely customary among orga­nizations, as it enables them to optimally allocate their resources while keeping their current IT infrastructure operating at low risk. A hybrid cloud strategy not only prepares an organization for the future but also protects its investment today.

This article looks at the fintech “arms race,” reporting country rankings in several foundational areas. It explores the areas of AI, blockchain, and cryptocurrency, and how countries are faring in the fintech arms race as measured by their investments in, and adoption of, these three fintech baskets.

This article looks at the fintech “arms race,” reporting country rankings in several foundational areas. It explores the areas of AI, blockchain, and cryptocurrency, and how countries are faring in the fintech arms race as measured by their investments in, and adoption of, these three fintech baskets.

In this article, the authors explore how banks could become “identity trust anchors” — and increase revenue as part of the process. Technologies like self-sovereign identity can help with the identity and privacy problem that is ubiquitous on the Web. In fact, KYCaaS (“know your customer” as a service) is a proposed new business model enabled as a new revenue-generating service. This is an interesting look at how fintech technologies, products, and services provide opportunities for companies to profitably commercialize transaction processing.

In this article, the authors explore how banks could become “identity trust anchors” — and increase revenue as part of the process. Technologies like self-sovereign identity can help with the identity and privacy problem that is ubiquitous on the Web. In fact, KYCaaS (“know your customer” as a service) is a proposed new business model enabled as a new revenue-generating service. This is an interesting look at how fintech technologies, products, and services provide opportunities for companies to profitably commercialize transaction processing.

Diarmuid Lane looks at text- versus voice-based question answering (QA) systems in financial services. He explores a larger question: how efficient are chatbots, really? 

Diarmuid Lane looks at text- versus voice-based question answering (QA) systems in financial services. He explores a larger question: how efficient are chatbots, really? 

Magesh Kasthuri looks at blockchain’s impact on fintech. The article delves into the analysis of a specific technology; perhaps one of the most foundational technologies in the fintech basket. Kasthuri discusses the inevitability of BaaS and its security concerns. 

Magesh Kasthuri looks at blockchain’s impact on fintech. The article delves into the analysis of a specific technology; perhaps one of the most foundational technologies in the fintech basket. Kasthuri discusses the inevitability of BaaS and its security concerns. 

Based on findings from a Cutter Consortium survey examining the adoption and application of AI technology, this article looks at six AI adoption drivers in banking and financial services: (1) competition; (2) the availability of massive data sets; (3) the growing number of commercial AI-based applications; (4) innovation among the players; (5) a growing understanding and appreciation of the potential of AI, ML, and natural language processing (NLP); and (6) increasingly sophisticated user interfaces and customer experience/engagement. 

Based on findings from a Cutter Consortium survey examining the adoption and application of AI technology, this article looks at six AI adoption drivers in banking and financial services: (1) competition; (2) the availability of massive data sets; (3) the growing number of commercial AI-based applications; (4) innovation among the players; (5) a growing understanding and appreciation of the potential of AI, ML, and natural language processing (NLP); and (6) increasingly sophisticated user interfaces and customer experience/engagement. 

The authors take a detailed look at fintech and marketing and how big data, analytics, marketing, and financial services can be leveraged.

The authors take a detailed look at fintech and marketing and how big data, analytics, marketing, and financial services can be leveraged.