Success Factors in the Introduction of Standard Software in Core Processes of Banks

The financial services industry has experienced major changes in recent years, including globalization, deregulation, disintermediation, technological advancements, and new competitive structures. In the light of these changes, banks try to simultaneously achieve higher operational efficiency and higher flexibility. Both goals have been achieved in other industries with the digitalization and standardization of core operational business activities such as the introduction of standard software packages like ERP. Vendors of standard software are now discovering the financial services industry and its core business functions, as a market, and banks are eagerly examining the potential benefits from standardization. However, ERP projects are known to have high risk levels and to be complex and expensive. Multiple studies have investigated the success factors of standard software introductions in general as well as in specific industries. New standard software packages for banks’ core business functions have emerged on the market, but little is known about their introduction’s success factors. In this study, we analyzed four major banks from German-speaking central Europe that have introduced a standard software package for their core business functions. Findings include that the key benefits are fairly comparable to benefits realized in other industries, and that organizational changes are similar and enable the financial services industry to reduce the vertical range of production significantly. Key success factors include those found in other studies from other industries but also further factors specific to the financial services industry.