Society is changing and we are becoming increasingly digitalised. One of the sectors where this is most noticeable, and where change is perhaps most rapid, is in banking and finance. There, the market expectation is that operators’ services should be available anytime and anywhere. At the same time, competition is fierce and those companies that can fully automate their processes have a strong competitive advantage.
– Banks and asset managers are starting to look more and more like pure tech companies, says Emelie Hallberg, Managing Partner at Clara Consulting.
Going back just a few decades, manual steps and processes were commonplace in the industry. But a lot has happened in a short time, and the technology revolution has never been more evident. Today, for example, we work a lot with cloud strategies, something that was not on the agenda at all in the financial services industry just a few years ago.
– Our job is to help our clients achieve their goals, and that requires our consultants to be at the forefront of technology, which means we continually invest in the skills of our consultants. The demand for cloud strategies is high and it is a concept and solution that we both believe in and work hard to be at the forefront of, says Emelie Hallberg.
Tailor-made solutions
Clara Consulting acts as a bridge between finance and IT and, as mentioned, operates in a very technology-heavy industry. Staying relevant is therefore extremely important, says Emelie Hallberg. But it’s not about a “one size fits all” solution, but about tailoring solutions to each client.
– We want to be involved at an early stage in our customers’ business and IT development. That’s why we often help in the needs analysis and investigation phase. At the same time, we have a good overall picture of the various system options and IT solutions on the market, which enables us to help our customers find the best system solution in relation to the customer’s other IT structure,” she says.
Loosely coupled
Anton Söderman has been working as a full stack developer at Clara Consulting for almost five years and is used to working with the latest technology and complex solutions. He believes that developments are taking place at a rapid pace, which makes it important to adapt systems and processes to the advancing digitalisation.
– It is important that the integration between systems should be loosely coupled and
service-oriented. This makes it easy to replace different components, solutions or systems. The goal is to be flexible and fast while being traceable. By adapting now, companies are preparing for the future,” says Anton Söderman, elaborating:
– “Moving your IT infrastructure to cloud solutions from traditional server platforms is an enabler for a loosely coupled service architecture, which in turn allows you to quickly adapt to new conditions as developments progress. If you have too heavy a technical legacy, you lose momentum and it becomes difficult to keep up with technological developments,” he says.
A long term investment
Tom Linder also works as a full stack developer at Clara Consulting. He agrees with Anton and adds:
– Besides, you won’t be an attractive employer if you work with old technology and outdated systems. It’s an initial investment to save money in the long run, while at the same time it’s an investment to be flexible towards a changing market.
But how does Clara Consulting itself work to stay at the forefront of technology? The answer is an agile approach, training and both traditional and reverse mentoring.
– We do a lot of training, both externally and internally within different frameworks to keep us up to date. In addition, we dare to try new things and fail, says Emelie Hallberg and continues:
– Something that stands out a bit is how our junior consultants, who come straight from school, bring new technical skills, thoughts and ideas on how to think and solve problems. Universities and colleges are driving technological development, which makes it very valuable to bring in new talented people with technical skills and interest. At Clara, we combine this with the long industry experience of more senior consultants, creating a dynamic interaction where practical experience and new technical knowledge are exchanged,” she concludes.
