Citisoft logo Citisoft logo
  • Capabilities
    • Capabilities

      From design to delivery, we're your partner at every step.

      • Services
        • Strategic Assessment
        • Operating Model Design
        • Vendor Evaluation
        • Systems Implementation
        • Outsourcing Transition
        • Program and Project Management
      • Practice Areas
        • Investments
        • Operations
        • Distribution
        • Data
      • Markets Served
        • Asset Managers
        • Asset Servicers
        • Asset Owners
        • Wealth Managers
        • Insurance
  • Insights
      • Blog
      • Resources
      Outlook 2025

      Discover why experience matters in driving successful transformations across investments, operations, distribution, and data.

      Learn more

  • About
      • Management Team
      • Vendor Relations
      • Events
      • Contact Us
      Unmatched Expertise

      From business transformation to on-the-ground delivery.

      Learn more

  • Careers
  • Submit an inquiry
  • Capabilities
    • Services
      • Strategic Assessment
      • Operating Model Design
      • Vendor Evaluation
      • Systems Implementation
      • Outsourcing Transition
      • Program and Project Management
    • Practice Areas
      • Investments
      • Operations
      • Distribution
      • Data
    • Markets Served
      • Asset Managers
      • Asset Servicers
      • Asset Owners
      • Wealth Managers
      • Insurance
  • Insights
    • Blog
    • Resources
  • About
    • Management Team
    • Vendor Relations
    • Events
    • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Submit an inquiry

Citisoft Blog

    • Topics:
    • All
    • Investments
    • Operations
    • Data
    • Our Industry
    • Technology and Innovation
    • Vendors and Service Providers
    • Program and Project Management
    • Compliance and Regulation
    • Systems Implementation
    • Operating Model Design
    • Solutions Market Perspective Series
    • Outsourcing Transition
    • Strategic Assessment
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Vendor Evaluation
    • Industry News
    • Asset Managers
    • Distribution
    • Asset Owners
    • Wealth Managers
    • Annual Outlook
background image
Article
•
October 30, 2018

Is Your Firm Ready for Transformation?

Roberta Moore Roberta Moore
is-your-firm-ready-transformation-preview

Crew team working together

Asset management organizations spend significant time and money assessing their investment technology and operations, choosing new tools and vendors, building a roadmap and outlining a future operating model and processing environment. As firms set out on a program, the realization quickly sets in that if you don’t build a solid project management structure around the initiative, it will end up overdue and over budget with everyone overwrought! 

Too often a major component of these initiatives is given the short shrift, ignored altogether or initiated at the last minute. That component is readiness. Readiness asks the questions: Are technology and production support ready? Are operations ready? Are upstream and downstream constituents (front office and external parties) ready?  To achieve readiness, communication, process improvement, training, engaging users on user acceptance testing (UAT), pilot and parallel are key actions. Having a focus on these activities ensures acceptance and often enthusiasm in the outcome. 

There was a time when transformation projects were considered technology projects and solving for business issues was the role of IT departments. Once initial requirements were collected, technical solutions were identified and rolled out with minimal input from business or operations. The project team would “arrive” one day, announce it was time to go live, provide some training and deliver the new product. It was not uncommon for analysts, portfolio managers, and operations teams to feel that the new tools did not really meet their needs. The business or operation would wedge the new tools into the current business processes augmented with Excel spreadsheets, manual procedures and workarounds, or in some cases there would be a roll back of the whole initiative. These were unfortunate outcomes that would only have been prevented if the operations and investment organizations engaged themselves early and forced a positive result.

Readiness works best when built into the project organization. It is an activity that crosses workstreams and engages the production teams well in advance of the delivery of new tools and processes. Typically part of the Project Management Office (PMO), the readiness team is responsible for making sure the production teams are informed, involved and enthused about the change to come. Having a solid readiness initiative throughout the project will help make this possible and enable success.

While readiness as a primary focus has become more prevalent on large scale projects, this is not always the case, especially in smaller organizations. Firms and programs of all sizes will benefit from this important role and I encourage organizations large and small to embrace this function and reap the benefits when your project succeeds.

Tags:

  • Our Industry
  • Program and Project Management
Roberta Moore
Roberta Moore

Comments

Related posts

Woman points to screen with live data displayed
Blog • Mar 19, 2025 Maximising Alpha: A Renaissance for Active FX and Cash Management Solutions
Blog • Feb 25, 2025 It’s Time to Talk About Transformation
Citisoft logo
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • About
  • Careers
  • Contact Us

Subscribe to Insights

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to have insights sent directly to your inbox.

Subscribe
©2025 Citisoft. All rights reserved.
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Notice at Collection
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter