This is very much the case at BMO Financial Group. The company has long been a technology leader in the Canadian financial sector, but its view of technology leadership is now quite different than it was in the mid-nineties. The company continues to regard innovation as one of its sources of competitive advantage. It wants to be fast to market in applying new technology where it will benefit customers, employees and ultimately shareholders, but it does not aspire to be at the bleeding edge of technology deployment.

Over the past few years, T&S has put a strong focus on improving the productivity of IT and increasing its value to the bank.

This article looks at the five key steps it has taken to enable this to happen. Those steps are:

1. Centralize the IT function

2. Manage supply and demand

3. Standardize, standardize, standardize

4. Benchmark, measure and reward

5. Change the culture, through the systematic upgrading of leadership and process changes that permit employees to do their best

Centralize The IT Function

About three years ago, BMO Financial Group began to look for a sea-change in its productivity ratio. The organization was spending about 68 cents for every dollar of revenue, and it was felt that this was too high. The goal was to improve this ratio not merely by a percent or two, but substantially.