Choices in the market are good to have, as competition can thrive and ensure that end users get the best services and solutions possible.
But at same time, the challenges when it comes to reviewing and purchasing technologies in the banking industry are very real. Any bank in Malaysia right now, is reviewing no less than 3 vendors for their respective banks, which can be quite a headache when you really get down to it.
The industry is in a core banking transformation phase, and has been for a very long time, because there are just so many things to consider, not least of which is selecting the various different vendors that all carry the same solutions.
There is always more to it than meets the eye.
Then, another bigger problem to worry about is the legacy systems that are already in place.
I am sure old system architectures have not been reviewed over time. As result, when you put in a new system, certain things may not work as smoothly as planned due to all these legacy issues.
While newer technologies are more nimble, they also still need to be integrated with the older technologies. This is when we do not know what will happen when new meets old. When issues come up, there’s a lot of troubleshooting and figuring out what when wrong.
Users are also resistant to change. They could already be so complacent.
Hence, vendors will need to do a lot of education and lobbying with these group of users in order to bring them along in the change journey.
Overall, the huge cost of investment involved, means purchase decisions have to be weighed very, very carefully. But, all the above challenges makes it a very lengthy and arduous process. And it doesn’t help that there doesn’t seem to be enough fair and balanced evaluations about solutions out there.
The big vendors will always toot their own horn, whilst system integrators and consultants are usually vendor-skewed. Not to mention, big vendors also have deeper pockets – they are able to play around with the pricing and leave no room for the smaller players to compete price-wise.
IT BYTES BACK! Says: Is the local banking tech market one which the big vendors hold in a vice-like grip, the smaller players seldom get the chance to shine, and competition in actual fact, does not really exist?
