Banks have shifted from viewing IT as a support function to recognizing it as the foundation of their business, a change accelerated by digital disruption and the pandemic. A bank’s digital and IT capabilities now define what it can offer customers, making periodic, top-down IT strategy reviews essential. Instead of isolated fixes, banks must adopt a holistic approach aligned with business vision, strategy and customer needs, with reviews typically every two years.

An effective IT strategy follows a four-step approach: understanding where the bank is headed (business strategy and drivers), assessing the current state across applications, technology and organization, defining the way forward by identifying and prioritizing initiatives, and developing a roadmap to guide execution. Success depends on sequential execution of these steps, strong business awareness within IT teams, overcoming resistance to change, avoiding blind replication of peers, and balancing inside-out and outside-in perspectives.