Wealth Technology Strategy
- 1. Page | 1 ©2016 Navigant Consulting, Inc. All rights reserved. 00005480 Navigant Consulting is not a certified public accounting firm and does not provide audit, attest, or public accounting services. See Navigant.com/Licensing for a complete listing of private investigator licenses. INSURANCE AND INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Alison Rooney Director 685 Third Ave., 14th Floor New York, NY 10017 Tel: 646-227-4703 Alison.Rooney@navigant.com ABOUT NAVIGANT Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: NCI) is a specialized, global professional services firm that helps clients take control of their future. Navigant’s professionals apply deep industry knowledge, substantive technical expertise, and an enterprising approach to help clients build, manage and/or protect their business interests. With a focus on markets and clients facing transformational change and significant regulatory or legal pressures, the Firm primarily serves clients in the healthcare, energy and financial services industries. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing, and technology/analytics services, Navigant’s practitioners bring sharp insight that pinpoints opportunities and delivers powerful results. More information about Navigant can be found at navigant.com. Case Study: Applying Agile Methodology for Wealth Management Software Release As the industry is experiencing a growing emphasis on speed to market and cost reduction, financial institutions today are focusing on technology enhancement and accelerated software delivery as strategic directions for business improvement and expansion. The following case study will examine a recent Navigant project in which a wealth management software platform was successfully implemented utilizing Agile SDLC methodology. THE CHALLENGE Our client, the second largest U.S. Wealth Management advisor, engaged Navigant to assist in a firm-wide technology deployment process and change management initiative to improve quality, performance and risk management. The client requested assistance to improve process implementation in six different work streams with an overall enhanced program management structure. The client faced significant pre-planning challenges to meet milestone timelines and task deadlines. Our team was engaged because of our strong heritage in the wealth management area and our understanding of the role that technology enhancements play in this highly competitive area of financial services. THE SOLUTION The Navigant team quickly and seamlessly integrated with the client’s implementation team to define a Program Management governance structure for each work stream as well as regular project reporting requirements. Navigant’s industry expertise in Agile methodologies allowed the team to push software development in a timely manner. The team designed Executive, Program and work stream-level reporting “dashboards”, and a dependency matrix for the overall program to keep track of inter- work stream dependencies. Additionally, Navigant designed a fast lane calculator to determine which software delivery tracks were to be accelerated, and an automated Gantt chart to track high level delivery items for executive reporting. The Navigant team also developed an automated defect and issue tracking dashboard. The team applied Agile PMO methodologies to implement a new delivery and change management process to enhance software delivery throughout the Wealth Management organization. These tasks included: • Facilitating and leading weekly meetings with the entire project management office • Working with individual project managers in order to develop sound reporting methodologies
- 2. Page | 2 • Increasing visibility into individual work streams via different reporting methods • Coordinating inter-work stream dependencies to optimize delivery of different initiatives • Socializing results with senior leadership and obtained approval • Leading the technology improvement work streams for test data and a vendor implementation • Developing a software platform that provides regular feedback to allow for flexible adjustments during process development and ability to adapt to new requirements using Agile methodologies vs. Waterfall procedures • Assisting work stream leaders in creating (WIP) “Work In Progress” metrics through flow diagrams and control charts to identify bottlenecks and meet task deadlines. THE IMPACT Navigant improved accountability and transparency within the client’s teams by implementing Agile SDLC methodology. This included managing individual sprints and integrating leadership and product managers to help define and finalize high-priority features for inclusion. The Navigant team streamlined application development, testing and change deployment processes by providing PMO support to implement a “Change and Release” orchestration tool, including automated in-house ticket generating system for change management across the organization. Navigant created an integrated roadmap detailing all phases involved in implementation of the tool. To improve accountability and transparency of the different teams involved, Navigant experts implemented Agile SDLC methodology for the development of this tool.
- 3. Page | 3 Planning •Meeting client implementation team •Define PMO structure and reporting requirements Tracking •Reporting dashboards •Dependency matrix •Gantt charts •Fast Lane Calculator Testing •Automated defect and issue tracking dashboard •Control charts to identify bottlenecks Releasing •Change and Release tool to streamline application development •Agile and SDLC methodology SDLC Agile Methodology