ISFB Insight
Banking IT: A Cross-Functional Challenge for Management and Support Functions
April 23, 2026
In many institutions, staff and support functions are directly confronted with technological, organizational, and governance challenges that extend far beyond the IT domain alone. The ISFB Staff and Support Certificate is designed precisely to address this reality: it aims to foster a cross-functional understanding of banking operations, to better comprehend the interactions between functions, and to enable participants to contribute in a more structured manner to the processes, decisions, and transformations taking place within institutions. Sébastien Bouchet, an ISFB lecturer for the ISFB Staff and Support Certificate program, provides an overview of the IT challenges he will address in the program.
Sébastien Bouchet, you are teaching as an ISFB lecturer in the ISFB Staff and Support Certificate program. What is the topic of your lecture?
This session focuses on IT challenges in the banking sector. In reality, the operations of a modern bank are inextricably linked to its information systems. Computerization has now permeated every function within banks, and digitalization has taken over. The difference? Through digitalization, we are rethinking processes by leveraging technology. We are in an era where the most advanced institutions are innovating by creating new products and services made possible by technology.
Regulators, starting with FINMA, recognize the critical importance of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) functions by raising standards for risk management, resilience, and governance, and by placing significant accountability on senior management, which must take ownership of strategic decisions and explicitly approve them. IT is no longer just an IT matter.
In this context, it is essential for staff and support functions to understand the various aspects of how banking IT operates, as IT is now a factor in virtually all strategic issues.
What is your take on the technological challenges facing the banking sector?
Le cours les développe selon 6 grandes thématiques. Chaque enjeu est regardé au travers du prisme du triangle fonctionnalité <> coût <> risque, dont l’équilibre est défini par la stratégie IT, laquelle doit être approuvée par l’organe en charge de la Haute Direction. En IT, « there is no free lunch » : renforcer le niveau d’exigence sur une des trois dimensions de ce triangle nécessite le plus souvent des compromis sur les autres.
We focus on the following areas:
- IT governance and organization, as well as the key areas where processes must be established (such as change management and incident management) and to which internal partners are inevitably exposed
- An overview of a typical functional architecture and the main options available: monolithic or best-of-breed IT systems, Software as a Service, on-premises integrated software, or custom development
- A few basics about infrastructure. The world of "IT infrastructure" is strategically critical: it is the number one source of IT operational risk, the primary target of cyber threats, and one of the largest components of the IT budget. It is also where users form their first impression when they log in each morning
- The breakdown of an IT budget, the key metrics that can be used to assess the cost impact of IT, and its main determinants
- Cybersecurity and ICT Risk Challenges
- An attempt to identify some trends and outlooks affecting innovation in banking
What specific benefits will your presentation provide for the participants?
The goal is to build cohesion through a shared understanding of the challenges. Just as we must require IT professionals to be business-oriented, to demonstrate curiosity and foresight, it is essential to empower every business unit and every department, and to encourage them to contribute constructively to the IT agenda. To do this, we must take a sufficient interest in IT to build, together, the tools best suited to the institution.
The relationship between business and IT is no longer viewed simply as a client-supplier relationship, but as a balanced partnership in which each side brings its strengths to the table and works together to help the bank achieve its goals.
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