1. mcgregor-boyall.com
UK & Europe | The Middle East | Asia Pacific
Financial Services Technology Update
The Chief Change Officer
T
he Leader of Change, the new
Chief Change Officer is responsible
for all organisational change
initiatives, tools and methodologies
within an organisation. These include
Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard, Lean
Enterprise, supply-chain management,
benchmarking and business systems
process modelling, to name but a few.
Throughout last year we have seen
businesses continuously seeking talents
with track records of implementing
and managing change programmes.
Today the rate of change has never
been more rapid or more constant.
Whether the change is a small one, like
the implementation of a new system, or
a much bigger one such as a company
divestment or merger, the way that
change is managed makes all the
difference to its success or failure.
Users rarely welcome change. Hence
together with the hard technical skills
mentioned above, the most important
skills a Change Professional must
possess is the ability to affect positive
transformation which does not threaten
the status quo. They must ensure that
doing things differently also means doing
them better in the long run, and that
they bring a collaborative and sensitive
approach to the project.
“When you are finished changing,
you’re finished.” - Benjamin Franklin
Key functions the CCO are
looking for:
Build the Target Operating Model –
The Strategist and Business Process
Solutions Specialist
This high level professional takes on a
real challenge to decide and describe
the desired state of the operations of a
business. Typically a TOM also includes
the roadmap over time that specifies
what the company needs to do to move
from the “as is” to the “to be”. Deep and
broad business experience coupled with
a structured approach to define work
streams is a rare mix, hence 2015 has
been a good market for this skillset.
Communicate the Rationale
Behind the Need for Change – The
Programme Relationship Manager
To introduce any change, large or small,
top down or bottom up, employees must
know why it is important for the change
to occur and the intended benefits. This
highly skilled function will handle this
carefully and communicate to all affected
parties, often in global locations. There
should also be adequate opportunities
for people to voice their concerns and
contribute their thoughts, views and
opinions. The Relationship Manager
juggles feedback and politics, scopes
boundaries, and will eventually convince
employees of the need for change.
All Change in Financial
Services
If there was one thing we
were sure to have happened
this year in Financial
Services, it was Change.
Numerous initiatives, both
proactive and reactive, new
and inflight have gone into
production with varying
results and satisfaction.
At this stage, technology
can no longer be viewed
as something that simply
supports the business.
Throughout 2015, senior
Technology Executives
worked with Business
Leaders to drive the changes
required to keep up with
an increasingly competitive
landscape. Leading change
involves juggling technology
shifts and new business
models, framed by cost
control – what fits, what
doesn’t, what suits the
business best.
A Review of 2015
Jan 2016

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Implement the Change in Phases –
The Planner and Deliverer
Change is usually best received when it is
implemented in bite sized chunks. Most
change can be broken down into phases
that can be reviewed along the way.
Collaboration is key, so if circumstances
allow, having a pilot group of employees
to test the change before it is fully
embedded is a good way to ensure
that more people ‘buy in’ to what is
happening and why. The end result must
be delivery, be it a new set of processes
or toolsets, or a suite of applications, it
must be a product which will satisfy the
users’ needs.
Evaluate, Review and Report on
Change - The Project Manager
Careful monitoring of the entire change
process is essential in order to be able
to measure its impact and evaluate its
success and if fine-tuning is required.
People need to be kept informed about
how things are progressing, the results
that are occurring and whether the
change programme is on track and has
met its objectives.
Reactive Proactive Change
Drivers – The Regulators
Over the past three years, meeting
regulatory deadlines, dealing with
compliance pressure, reducing financial
penalties and maintaining monetary
stability have remained the top priorities
for Banking Executives.
As the initiatives enter implementation
and maturity, cycles repeat themselves
and we are seeing businesses taking
a more proactive approach to dealing
with these issues. In 2015, they faced
looming and then extended deadlines
for MiFID2, milking the now talent rich
market. BCBS239 / FDSF / FRTB are
being shoehorned into implementation
amongst EMIR, Pillar 2 and CCR in
reshaped banking groups.
Over the last 12 months Client On-
boarding, AML, KYC & CDD, Financial
Crime, Advisory, Control Room and
Data Protection all affected large scaled
reviews and remedial action. This created
demand for contractors in lower level
support functions, and more project level
strategic hires at mid to senior levels.
Rethinking Technology – All
New Integrated Experience
from the Innovation Director
In 2015, we were pleased to see banks
making new investments in advanced
digital technologies with the goal to
improve their services for customers
and remove friction from their journeys.
With new challengers in the banking
market, established banks are capitalising
on their brands and infrastructure to
offer a sophisticated experience to their
end users. Traditional online services
and sales and mobile commerce are
integrating with bricks and clicks services.
Innovation is key to the success of
digitalisation. The Innovation Director
is responsible for strategy, future state
architecture and often for investing in
small hi-tech sometimes multi-million
dollar companies. A lynchpin in this
space, the Innovation Director is tasked
to work and network with Fintech.
Whilst the banks have legacy systems
to contend with, the Fintech start-ups
have a clean slate and bright blue sky.
To marry the best of both worlds is an
enviable task for the Director.
Vacancy breakdown by skills
32%
BA/PM/Change
39%
Application
Development
16%
Infrastructure
andSupport
13%
DataBI

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Neutralising Cyber Threats
With recent high profile security breaches
seen in the press, security experts in the
banks expect cyber attacks to increase
in the coming year. We have seen a
strong trend for businesses auditing
and assessing their technology in order
to understand their potential exposure.
Cloud computing allows vast amounts
of data to be stored without taking up
one inch of physical space. Increasingly,
businesses rely on it to warehouse their
sensitive information. Hackers targeting
cloud computing could be a big threat
in 2016, in particular when the data is
managed on a mobile device. However
the biggest threats are not going to be
information breaches but the attacks
against critical infrastructure, like utilities,
telecommunications and logistics.
In response, voice biometrics,
fingerprints, iris scans and other
authentication options have started to
replace passwords as a means to verify
a user’s identity and simplify the online
and mobile login process. The key is to
provide security against hackers whilst
improving the overall user experience.
The advent of the bank domain may
protect against spammers and phishers.
New ideas such as replacing credit
card magnetic strips and building new
CryptoWall will create high demands
across all business sectors, but especially
in banking.
All in all, roles for Access Control,
Information Security, Encryption and
Network Security skills have been
increasing throughout the year and
we predict that the upward trend will
continue in 2016.
A New Take on Data Specialist
Talents
With highly defined data strategies
companies are now recognising Business
Intelligence and as a separate talent
market to both Technology and Change.
In 2015, McGregor Boyall’s Data Subject
Matter Experts in BI, Datawarehousing
and Enterprise Data Management related
positions and have never been busier.
Banks are in a race to recruit all manner
of data specialists including modellers,
architects, stewards, governance and
scientists, largely focussed in change
initiatives. We are also seeing demand for
regulatory, risk and compliance, but also
advanced data analysts for cross-selling
and up-selling of targeted offering, as
well as mobile tracking of customers’
tastes across channels and devices.
Client segmentation and improved CRM
strategy have been key to balance cost
versus service. In particular lack of Big
Data skillset means that employers are
offering greater flexibility globally and
are willing to upskill to the required level.
Data Management agendas are long
term, so where possible the appetite is
for permanent hires.
Payment Technology – The
Real Life Application which
affects you
Problems with payments have hit
headlines once again in 2015, mainly
caused by platform inefficiencies after a
decade of mergers and acquisition. Banks
have battled over Payments Experts with
functional, architectural, technical and
proven delivery skills.
Whilst dealing with legacy integration,
the advancement in digital technology
has welcomed many new trends over the
last couple of years, and the payment
industry is constantly evolving and
adapting to keep pace. Consumers have
entered this brave new world in one large
stride. In 2015, our clients moved further
towards a cashless society, and Senior
Managers in our clients said that this will
continue in 2016, with a further decline in
conventional retail banking.
Perm v Contract Vacancies 2015 - 4 week rolling Perm Contract
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

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Investments have been made in
implementing digital services such as
e-money accounts with linked debit
and prepaid cards. These are quickly
emerging as popular alternatives to
traditional banking globally. Mobile
payments have become extremely
competitive and our banking clients,
mostly head office banks, have been
aggressively reengineering and
developing their platforms to expand
their services. So far with the increasing
flexibility and popularity of smartphones,
this method has been very well received
by consumers. Watch this space for
Biometrics authentication and payments,
and the much discussed payments
via social media and Bitcoin, whilst
banks look to unlock the power behind
Blockchain.
Transformation under Cost
Control
There were many challenges for the
banks in 2015 as they are under more
pressure than ever to improve their
efficiency. After a decade of mergers
and acquisitions, the largest banks
have not become systematically more
efficient. In the past two years, however,
it has been evident that the banks’
that focused on controlling cost have
clearly outperformed their less savvy
competitors. In 2015, cost control
implementation came into fruition
as part of the power shift in banking
organisations.
In 2015, to control costs and improve
profits, CXOs exited and their
replacements entered, under pressure
from the shareholders and penalties from
regulators. Additionally, the change of
economical appetite in China and the
Far East along with the fall in oil prices
had a knock on affect for the banks.
Organisational terraforming, which
effects the future of global banking,
moved bravely on with its costly
implementation partner Technology,
cautiously supporting data as it gets
bigger.
As a result, we have seen many openings
for talents, often Consultants, taking new
positions as Business Managers / COOs
/ PMOs, to redesign organisations top
down. They are tasked with optimising IT
operations, mostly in the form of sharing
services, group functionalisation and
applying stricter spending frameworks
with more efficient procurement and
sourcing processes. Throughout 2015
nearshoring continued to be favourable,
for geographical proximity, speed to
market, lower costs (including travel
costs), fewer language barriers and
cultural learning curves. To implement
this, geographical talent mining is
becoming a new focus for Human
Resources.
Other Technology Hotspots in
2015
Across Asset Classes
2015 saw a rise in hiring in the Equities
space, especially for the US investment
banks, and in particular for low latency
and eTrading. Rarer and emerging
technologies such as Scala and HTML5
became increasingly popular. Otherwise
headcount growth in FX remained strong.
Across Risk and Regulatory related
projects Java Developers have been in
demand – with just a slight edge over
C#.
The growth of Digitalisation this year
has made the banks’ core business
innovative. A new breed of Programmer,
the Full Stack Developer with Mobile
Development, Web, Database and
SEO skills are really Integrators. The
expansion created roles for technical UX
Analysts and Designers, who are creative
and technical, tasked with delivering a
seamless customer journey.
As mentioned above, Data has now
become highly specialised, and we hear
about new technologies weekly. Examples
include Hadoop, Cassandra, Spotfire,
MongoDB, Tableau, Alteryx, Self Service
BI, Mobile BI, Data Lakes.
30%
20%
10%
0
Candidate Source
McGregor Boyall
Database
Passive,
Professional &
Social networks
Advertising &
using CV Boards
Recommendation

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Applications Support and Testing
Applications Support has remained
a focussed and essential vertical hire,
especially within the 3rd party for FX,
eTrading and Front Office. There has
been good demand for FIX, Murex –
both implementation and migration, and
Marketview. Users increasingly expect
more visible results and more reliable
technology, and putting in place more
structured support is a step in the right
direction. ServiceNow has been offered
as a solution which works well with
Cloud, improves application deployment,
increases workflow efficiency and the
Demand of this skillset spiked mid-2015.
Other products also implemented include
HP Service Desk and BMC Remedy.
It has also been a good year for Testers
as the entire DevOps and Developers
in Test models grew and evolved.
Quality Assurance and Testing are often
skills required together. We have seen
movements in Testers for Regulatory
related projects, Credit Risk, SAS, VAR,
CVA and Digital with buzzwords such as
Quality Centre, Loadrunner and JMeter.
Agile and DevOps Come of Age
Agile evangelists believe that Agile and
DevOps Practices control costs as well
as delivery time. This is exactly what
both technologists and business want.
Throughout 2015, top down initiatives to
affect Scrum, Kanban and Lean process
improvements were implemented as
change programmes, altering location
strategy, technology and operational
roadmaps across banking groups.
For this, clients have needed a new
generation of Business Analysts who
would leave the requirements in the
stakeholders’ hands, see how they
test, and if they accept whilst owning
the product. Also the project teams
now require DevOps professionals for
integration, release and engineering
continuous deployment across business,
applications and infrastructure.
“The secret of change is to focus all of
your energy, not on fighting the old, but
on building the new.” - Socrates
A Preview of 2016
As regulatory and compliance
requirements march on into the fourth
year, early indicators are that there will
be continued demand for PRA / BOE
knowledge as Basel 4 Regulations loom.
Policy Teams for both business and
technology are set to become larger as
the banks’ internal models become less
of an advantage. We expect salaries and
rates to increase many folds, responding
to the demand in both permanent and
contract hires. It is too early to see the
impact of the recent announcement from
the FCA to drop its plan to investigate
the banking culture. Perhaps banking
executives will see signs of the pressure
easing, or at the very least another
priority shift.
Big Data is the core of many key
programmes, now sitting in the newly
established Chief Data Office. It will
remain the hot topics in the coming year.
Whilst recruiting many faceted skills,
there will also be a need to integrate
Client and Product Data into broader
agendas. Hiring in Data will be ring-
fenced, and continue in spite of seasonal
slowdown and freezes. New location
strategy and nearshoring will keep the
cost reasonable, at least in theory.
Banks will continue to near-shore their
technical and operational headcounts
and will expand in Glasgow, Edinburgh,
Birmingham, Eastern Europe and the
Northern Powerhouse. The target
candidate pool will extend to retail,
Fintech and hi-tech. On the topic of
talents, gender diversity is now common
currency. Next year increasing male-
female ratio in big banks will get even
more serious as a formal target of 33%
of females in boardrooms by 2020 has
recently been set for FTSE100 firms. No
doubt we all need to be more creative
in recruiting, retaining, developing and
promoting diverse talent.
An Innovation
Architect provides
a peep into the
future:
Messaging Apps
- The new Social
Media
The Internet
of things, or
everything?
Blockchain
Power
Cyber
Security
Big Data
and The
Beacon
Crowd
Fundingfor
everything
Mobile Payments
Loyalty
Points

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