Traditional banks today are being bombarded by a combination of innovative technology, rising customer demands, emerging competitors and new regulations.

The question is whether banks are ready and willing to invest in enhancing their service offerings, utilising the new technology options available and at the same time, continuing to maintain a secure system for their customers?

Banks are being forced to radically transform their business models, alter products and services in order to maintain momentum with the ever-changing technology and innovation on offer. Whilst many studies have suggested that customer behaviour is the primary driver for change, a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit states that the key driver for transformation is the emergence of new technologies, in particular, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and other systems related to data and analytics. The report suggests that this influence of new technologies is only going to get bigger over the next few years.

In a survey commissioned to major financial institutions, clearly, the most vulnerable factor to competition was payments, followed closely by savings and deposit services. Short term competitor threats were highlighted as large technology businesses, payment providers and peer-to-peer lenders. Financial institutions also stated that they believe strategic priorities to continue to change over the coming years. Banks expect expansion in key areas of digital marketing, digital channel migration and cutting costs.

The rise of open banking

From the customer side, people are looking for simpler ways to handle money and make their daily lives easier. Many banks are concerned about the challenges faced with open banking services, especially in regards to collecting and sharing data with third parties and the associated risks of this.

Banks need to determine what path they wish to take in the future, whether this is providing a multi-service offering of financial and non-financial products or looking to specialise in a specific area of the banking community. What is quite clear, is that the traditional banking system is not a feasible pathway for a sustainable future.

Max Chuard, the chief executive officer at Tenemos believes that five years from now, intelligent banking will involve a bank that utilises the cloud, AI and other innovative technologies. Banks will be able to offer a wider range of new services to their customers. Historically, conventional banks have tended to avoid the risk of changing systems but the need to continue innovating is clearly a path that needs to be taken.

In terms of investment in digital strategies, a large focus continues to remain on cybercrime. Cloud technology, however, is becoming an increasing area of interest, followed closely by the importance of data and advanced analytics.

Anaplan has agreed on a deal valued at millions of dollars to acquire Israeli predictive analytics business Mintigo Inc.

Financial media business ‘The Fly’ recently reported on the deal from last week, stating that Anaplan had confirmed the deal during its earnings conference call.

Financial details of the deal haven’t been confirmed yet but the value is believed to be in the region of tens of millions of dollars.

Starting back in 2009, Mintigo focused on creating an online predictive analytics platform focused on identifying items a customer is likely to purchase. According to Pitchbook data, the business has raised in excess of $50 million dollars in equity to date.

Mintigo has also gained financial support from Sequoia Capital Israel, Maverick Ventures Israel, Adams Street Partners, Vintage Investment Partners, Giza Venture Capital and La Maison Investments.

Leading global analyst provider Gartner has recently confirmed the release of it’s latest Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis Solutions.

Analytics remains a vital element of new software technology, particularly within the last year. Gartner believes that automation will be the main driver for new product purchases over the next year within business intelligence and analytics, including data science and embedded BI. Gartner has also forecast that nearly half of all analytic queries to be performed via search, automation, voice or natural language.

The rise of natural language and conversation analytics will generate a new wave of technology users within the BI and Analytical arena. It is due to this uptake that Gartner believes we will experience a rise of nearly 15% of these tools in enterprises, with significant growth of data and analytics users within businesses. Analysts at Gartner also believe that this rate of growth will stimulate other innovative businesses to modify their business models.

The latest Gartner report outlines of the development of ‘modern’ analytics and business intelligence tools over the last few years. Traditional platforms are being transformed by the development of augmented analytics and machine learning, as well as the rise of visual-based data system providers. Gartner states that those leading the natural language processing arena are more likely to be capable of setting a higher pricing level for their products compared to their competitors.

In their latest Magic Quadrant, Gartner summarises the overall strengths and weaknesses of over 20 key providers, regarded as the most significant within their market. Gartner provides a graphical representation of vendor performance based on their overall ability to execute and their ability to reach their overall vision. The graph is split into four quadrants: nice players, challengers, visionaries, and leaders. 

Based on last year, Microsoft and Tableau were regarded as market leaders in this space. This year, Gartner has placed Microsoft in a more commanding lead, improving its position on the ‘ability to execute’ section of the Gartner graph. Microsoft provides excellent functions, especially for its price, enabling users to perform detailed analysis relatively easily. Gartner believes that Microsoft will remain a leader for some years to come. Tableau, however, has recently announced new natural language processing and automated data management services which strengthen its portfolio further.

Qlik maintained its leadership status based on Gartner’s definition of consisting of a strong product roadmap and its global reach compared to other competitors. Other mentioned businesses include ThoughSpot, a business that is leading the augmented analytics industry. The business raised nearly $150 million in new venture capital and released ThoughtSpot5 last year, containing its innovative voice-driven analytics systems referred to as SearchIQ.

In terms of challenges, Gartner highlight Microstrategy as a key business. The company has invested heavily in augmented analytic services and has received high customer scores based on its range of product capabilities. The system also enables detailed analysis of large data sets and recently launched a new offering which it describes as a ‘new class of enterprise intelligence’, known as HyperIntelligence.

WIthin the Visionaries section, Gartner highlight TIBCO Software, Sisense, and Salesforce as nearly equal leaders and all having the potential to be the leader in 2020. Gartner suggests that TIBCO showed the most improvement in the last year due to a number of recent acquisitions which have enabled them to expand their offering in data science and management. The business also improved its embedded analytics product and launched a new AI analytical tool known as Spotfire X. Sisense raises dits funding to $200 million showing its interest in acquiring enterprise-level customers. The business has emphasized its focus on machine learning and launched a new Data Cognition Engine that can understand large data volumes and can produce nearly instant analytical responses.

Within the Niche Players, this year are more traditional BI providers such as Oracle, IBM, and Board International, as well as more specialist embedded analytical providers like Logi Analytics and GoodData. One business, in particular, Looker, gained the highest increase within this section, ending the year with a growth funding round valued at $100 million. The business also released new integrations for data science workflows and new developer tools in Looker 6, as well as integration with Google BigQuery.

The development of blockchain created a string of new and innovative start-up businesses seeking ways to expand into the wider market. Recently, the world of blockchain has transformed rapidly and rather than a wave of young, innovative founders creating new blockchain solutions, it is the likes of major technology companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle who have now joined in the blockchain market.

This development has triggered a mix of opinions, with some viewing it as a major move in actually standardizing and implementing the technology, whilst others perceive it as major technology taking over a modern tool for startup development. Nevertheless, both technology majors and new businesses are collaborating through blockchain development, which can only be a positive change.

Oracle, one of the leading software companies offers a detailed enterprise blockchain service and is continuing to provide support to emerging businesses in this market. Oracle is also driving this section of the business with further support from blockchain and a recent collaboration with Chainlink.

At the start of the summer, Chainlink confirmed they would be partnering with Oracle and its Oracle for Startups program. The start-up project works with new start-ups and innovative professionals worldwide. The program provides cloud credits, discounts, mentoring and access to customer and marketing services at Oracle. This new initiative with Chainlink is just one of several projects Oracle are working on, but it is one that targets start-up companies, supporting them selling their data to generate additional revenue. The decentralized oracle technology used by Chainlink will be utilized to generate revenue via smart contracts on the Oracle Blockchain Platform.

Supporting Start-ups

Some analysts are asking the question of why is Oracle diverting their attention from new technology to support start-ups. The answer really comes down to the essence of a start-up, which is creativity and innovation. Fernando Ribeiro, the senior manager for Oracle for Start-ups explains that the program is focused on enabling new businesses to develop their products via the Oracle cloud solutions and other resources, generating a string of innovative systems that benefit not only the start-up but Oracle and their customers.

Ribeiro refers to it as a win-win cycle of innovation for start-ups and Oracle. The program is allowing new businesses to partner, develop and scale their ideas on enterprise solutions such as Oracle’s cloud infrastructure and blockchain-as-a-service. For a business the size of Oracle, the ability to innovate and be flexible is more complex compared to a start-up. Consequently, the program enables Oracle to keep its finger on the pulse and ensure they are working closely and supporting innovative plans within the industry.

Why is Oracle so active in Blockchain technology?

Ribiero explains that Oracle believes that the simpler you make it for blockchain services to leverage off-chain data sources in a secure manner, the greater value they could provide for blockchain customers. Ribiero refers to the recent partnership with Chainlink as a vital way to test, understand and validate this process. In short, if easier access and secure connections with a range of external data sources make blockchain more applicable, then it will generate more customers to the Oracle Blockchain Platform.

The partnership and service offering from Oracle for start-ups and its latest partnership with Chainlink are positive developments for the market. For many innovators, the cost is a significant factor and barrier to progression. Creating a system with Oracle to increase revenue and at the same time enable new ideas to continue developing is an appealing offering for many start-ups. Ribiero highlights that they intend to work with pioneering companies across multiple industries, to ensure they remain competitive and continue driving innovation. As the Oracle Blockchain Platform continues to develop, the business intends to partner on new initiatives similar to Chainlink and expand these opportunities further.

For years data analytics has been regarded as a valuable tool for businesses to enhance their marketing strategies. What has become more clear in recent years is how data can be applied to multiple sections of a business and improve overall performance and management. Today, data is applied to many systems across public and private sectors, enabling teams to use data to streamline workflows and identify errors.
Collecting data on customers and applying machine learning, businesses can gain a clearer understanding of how each customer behaves on their website. This information is critical in determining how effective your website platform is and enable businesses to optimize their technology to create a better overall experience. Businesses can become more intuitive, creating a custom user experience, delivering a website that is unique to each user.

Data can also support businesses in improving their workflow and enhancing employee performance. Through a clearer idea of employee performance, HR teams can gain a detailed insight into how employees utilize their working day and identify opportunities to improve work efficiency. This type of methodology is also very useful for financial businesses in monitoring and detecting and fraudulent activity.

Data in the public sector

Public sector and government agencies can utilize data analytics to support a number of common challenges, improve the efficiency of their operations and save money. Data analysis can support agencies in creating public policies and offer clear service to measure the success of each policy.

Data and Decision Making

Utilizing new data streams can support decision making in businesses and overall improve business performance. The effectiveness of data in enhancing management has resulted in a transition in how businesses operate. With continued improvement in data analytics and innovative technology, we will continue to see a greater demand for skilled, talented data analytical professionals. As more companies begin to understand the real value of data and analytics demand for new services will rise and technology companies will likely create a number of new and improved services that enable businesses to collect, analyze and apply their own data sources.

Salesforce has announced the completion of its $15.7 acquisition of analytical vendor Tableau Software, forming its largest-ever acquisition to date. The deal between both companies was announced earlier in June, coming not long after Google moved to acquire data analytics business Looker for a value of $2.6 billion.

In relation to the Tableau deal, Salesforce believes the acquisition will provide an improved role in expanding digital transformation, allowing companies worldwide to harness new data streams within the entire business and generate more insights leading to smarter decisions. Salesforce believes the new platform will create intelligence, integrated customer experiences and support further innovation.

Leading global market intelligence firm IDC forecasts the global spending on technology and services supporting digital transformation will reach $1.8 trillion by 2022. Tableau offers a self-service analytical system with a platform that enables people from a range of skills to work with data. Over 85,000 businesses including Verizon, Netflix, and Schneider Electrical are using Tableau to support their existing data streams.

Salesforce Customer 360 offers businesses an intuitive and intelligent view of customers across an entire company, including sales, service, marketing, and other key areas. Salesforce Einstein provides detailed AI-driven analytics focusing on sales and marketing. Combining the forces of Tableau and Einstein means Salesforce is capable of delivering one of the most intelligent analytical and visual platforms available for all departments and users.

Tableau will also enhance the potential of Customer 360, allowing the platform to expand to a wider range of customers. Tableau will perform as an independent provider under the Tableau brand and will continue to be headquartered in Seattle and be managed by the existing leadership team. Keith Block, the co-CEO of Salesforce explains that data is essential for digital transformation and Block highlights this is why the business is very committed to producing the highest level of analytics available to every user. Block states that Tableau will allow Salesforce Customer 360, including the analytic potential of Salesforce to improve further, allowing customers to focus on innovation and generate smarter strategic business decisions.

Recently, Salesforce has revealed plans to launch a second data center within the UK and strengthen its data center capacity within France.

Implementing digital technology can create a number of challenges to financial operations. Investment business The Carlyle Group recently launched a CPM platform to support its business objectives.

With the continued rise of digital technology, financial businesses and utilizing innovative systems to transform people and processes to enhance business performance through an improved and more flexible service. Through the implementation of new technology, businesses are creating more time to focus on analysis and improving their overall strategic decision-making process.

A few years ago, investment company Carlyle Group started exploring new methods to support digital technology within its financial and enterprise systems that provided a simplistic and easier option to their existing services. At this time, the group utilized three separate systems for planning, budgeting, and forecasting but intended to launch one system that could integrate all of these services into one platform. Carlyle Groups financial planning and analysis group used SAP Business Objects Planning, a traditional tool that no longer provided options to support annual budgeting, quarterly forecasting, and long term plans. Carlyle Group was focusing a lot of time and effort on consolidating and handling information due to technical limitations faced with their systems in place. The Group highlighted that its existing Hyperion Financial Management system required significant customization to meet business needs. The business also relied on a custom HR budgeting and forecasting service that met the needs of a complex investment business but was a single-user system and required added support with excel-based data integrations.

To progress further into the digital era, Carlyle Group knew they would need to implement a more modern, flexible platform, capable of scaling to meet its existing and future business needs. Carlyle explored a range of tools to determine which one suited the company from an FP&A perspective. In the end, the business picked OneStream Software LLC integrated CPM platform.

OneStream operated in the cloud or on-premise and allows businesses to focus on reporting, budgeting and forecasting, all within one integrated system. The CPM platform can tackle the requirements of most businesses as well as the more complex reporting needs of other companies and specific groups.

Financial benefits of the move Carlyle Group selected OneStream for its budgeting, planning and forecasting services but the platform also supported their consolidation and reporting processes, combining this area into one platform. Aside from the productivity benefits, the business also experienced an improvement in their IT infrastructure, making life much easier for both users and system managers. The new platform means a reduction in data movement between systems, making it easier to manage and implement periodic upgrades. So instead of launching a series of upgrades to multiple systems that can take some time, the group can upgrade one application in a matter of hours. OneStream has met all the requirements of Carlyle Group. Through the delivery of a single platform, all data is gathered in one place, making processes simpler and quicker.

The business now has much more access to information and has greatly reduced manual, time-consuming data tasks. Carlyle Group has also highlighted a number of other notable benefits, such a reduction in consolidation times by over 50%, despite a massive surge in data generated. Standard processes that previously took up to a week to deliver, such as expense budget updates, can now be implemented in the same day, in literally a few minutes. Since implementing the new system, the group has expanded their use of the OneStream platform by developing point planning solutions for specific expense areas, generating scenario models to support business strategy and review discussions.