Research from Quantios’ latest Future Focus Report has revealed the number one business challenge for organisations going into 2025: increasing efficiencies while reducing costs. And, a further 88% of respondents have reported that they believe the way to achieve this is through digitalisation. However, in spite of this awareness, not all firms are acting with a sense of urgency. In fact, 70% of respondents admit that their firms continue to rely on multiple legacy systems and manual processes and only 42% of respondents stated that they plan to explore new technology options over the next five years – a timeline that may seriously hinder competitiveness.
This lack of urgency is due to organisations finding themselves forced to address the maintenance and support of existing platforms, rather than addressing the bigger, strategic technology upgrades needed for long-term success, such as AI initiatives and cloud-based solutions. In fact, 36% of those surveyed admitted to prioritising other IT initiatives over cloud adoption, leading to delays in implementing comprehensive solutions.
In addition to the challenge of short-term thinking, 44% also reported that overcoming internal resistance to change within their organisations remains a significant hurdle. Additionally, budget constraints are also a critical issue, with 36% of firms citing insufficient budget allocation as a major barrier and 47% of firms reporting that they allocate less than 5% of their annual IT spend to innovation and change projects.
Guy Harrison, CEO at Quantios said: “There is widespread recognition within the Wealth, Trust, and Corporate Services sector that digital transformation is no longer optional – especially as younger, tech-savvy clients enter the market and demand more digital services. But, our research has also revealed that there are significant barriers to overcome. As such, businesses must prioritise the areas where digital innovation will have the most significant impact, such as cloud and SaaS”.
Those surveyed in the report believe that increased investment in digitalisation could unlock a range of additional benefits, including driving new revenue streams (72%) and improving firms’ abilities to attract and retain top talent (73%). In response, 60% of firms are looking at implementing automation tools to streamline processes and improve efficiency and 39% want to upgrade their IT infrastructure to the cloud to enhance operations. There is also a clear acknowledgement that technology can empower organisations of all sizes, with 77% recognising SaaS as an ideal solution for firms with fewer IT resources.
Methodology: Quantios conducted a global survey of 91 Wealth, Trust, and Corporate services providers as well as private banks, family offices and wealth managers between August and September 2024.
The full Future Focus Report 2025 can be found here.
