Leadership
How to Build a Stronger Fintech Business Case
A JPMorgan Chase CIO offers five tips to ensure your fintech investment proposal demonstrates solid strategy—and sets your company up for success.
A JPMorgan Chase CIO offers five tips to ensure your fintech investment proposal demonstrates solid strategy—and sets your company up for success.
Once upon a time, most tech proposals that came across my desk went something like this: “It’ll cost $50 million and take five years. See you when it’s done.”
Asking for money to fund a cool new tool is no longer enough of an argument. Today’s leaders know how integral technology is to business strategy. Therefore, your business case needs to demonstrate strategic thinking.
Recently, my team examined a sizable volume of fintech projects—including the original proposals—to answer a critical question: Why do some fintech projects fail while others flourish? The results were fascinating.
After analyzing the data, we developed numerous principles of success that now govern our tech investment decisions at the firm. A few of the most important principles are listed below. I recommend applying them to your own proposals and projects. They will make your business case CIO-ready and help you set up your organization for success, which is the ultimate goal.
For large fintech investment projects, a venture-based funding model helps you break down the project—and the proposed spend—into bite-sized chunks. It encourages you to show how you’ll track success at each stage and what business insights you’ll gain at each juncture. Proposals designed in this way demonstrate commitment to organizational health by limiting financial exposure and building concrete value into the plan. Do this and investment will likely follow.
The goal of any technology is to solve a specific business challenge. Your business case needs to prove that you’ve researched the problem thoroughly. Clearly articulate your problem so that everyone understands the all-important “why” behind the investment. Also include quantifiable KPIs. It shows confidence in the investment and that you’re being responsible—aligning with business vision and objectives. Be specific about the outcomes you expect and how you’ll measure ROI.
You don’t want to end up with a multitude of point solutions that don’t talk to each other. A new solution should streamline operations, reducing the number of disparate systems your teams need to work with. Take the time—and don’t be afraid to reach out to digital partners for help—to make this a real selling point of your proposal. At the very least, you want to be sure your new solution doesn’t add complication.
Everyone likes to point to the latest, greatest tech on the market and say, “Hey, look, we can upgrade and solve all our problems!” First of all, nothing’s that easy. Second, what about the tech you already have? Be sure you’re only spending on a new investment if you truly need to. It’s all about sound fiscal decision-making. Evaluate all the alternatives, including tools that are already in place. Share your findings with full transparency. And if all signs point to making an investment in new tech, be sure you’ve considered both off-the-shelf solutions and custom builds.
Every tech project needs a product owner—a tech lead who will champion the project and who is fully invested in its success. Sometimes this person can be a bit of a unicorn. They should be senior enough to cultivate buy-in from management, but not so senior that they aren’t connected to the people doing the work.
Working through these questions has an additional benefit: You’re likely to solicit input and therefore buy-in from leaders and experts across the organization as you create your business case. The practical insights you gain and the relationships you build will come in handy when it’s time for rollout and adoption.
