Is This the Year for a Banking IT Breakthrough? Find Out at BS&T's Executive Summit

For all the concerns in the banking industry about the restrictions imposed by new regulation, a still-sluggish economy and potential fall-out from the Euro crisis, 2012 is turning out to be a very exciting year for banking IT. Expansion of the mobile channel, aggressive pursuit of competitive advantage through the embrace of big data and analytics, and pursuit of new operational models based on cloud and virtualization are just some of the initiatives being pursued successfully by banks of all sizes. Community banks and global institutions alike are pursuing the long-sought goal of customer-centricity, finding ways to finally make it a reality after years of rhetoric. Tablet devices and social media are transforming the ways in which bank employees do their jobs. Transactional proficiency is reaching unheard of levels of speed, reliability and security.

The current state of banking IT, and especially how technology is enabling smart financial institutions to build new and more profitable customer relationships, will be the focus of Bank Systems & Technology's 7th Annual Executive Summit, taking place Sept. 30-October 3 at the Royal Palms Resort in Phoenix, Ariz. This year's theme "Banking Redefined: Capitalizing on Data, Channels & Customer-Centricity," summarizes the capabilities that are now key to being a competitive and profitable bank. Senior executives from leading institutions including Wells Fargo, State Street Corp. and BBVA Compass will reveal the strategies their organizations are pursuing to thrive in what many are calling a "post-channel" banking business. Through conference presentations, roundtable discussions and three days of networking among the senior technology and line-of-business executive attendees, Executive Summit participants will engage with some of the most critical issues facing banks today, including best practices for a successful core systems modernization initiative, redefining the customer experience in a multi-channel world, the next generation of mobile banking, and big data rewards and risks.

At this year's Executive Summit we'll also try to get a sense of what's in the pipeline from a technology investment standpoint, not just in terms of banks' 2013 IT budgets, but also regarding offerings from our leading-edge event sponsors -- EMC, Kony, PWC and Yodlee. To that end, we're reaching out to the banking industry to gain some insights into what the IT investment priorities will be in the coming year. You can participate in BS&T's brief 2013 Banking IT Outlook survey by visiting this link.

For more information about BS&T's 2012 Executive Summit and to register, please visit the event web site.

Katherine Burger is Editorial Director of Bank Systems & Technology and Insurance & Technology, members of UBM TechWeb's InformationWeek Financial Services. She assumed leadership of Bank Systems & Technology in 2003 and of Insurance & Technology in 1991. In addition to ... View Full Bio