Harmeda © 2017

BLOCKCHAIN?DID YOU SAY BLOCKCHAIN?

Harmeda © 2017

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• In this deck we are covering the step-by-step process to set up and lead a successful blockchain initiative, from kick off to completion.

• Although this approach is mostly intended for financial services firms, it can be applied to other industries as well.

• We are providing insights into the key considerations which will increase your chances of reaching your objectives.

• As long as you obtain our written approval, you can re-use and modify this deck as you see fit for your own needs. The initial contributors and copyrights will need to be acknowledged.

• We are not covering the basics or definitions of blockchain. This is a process and project focused deck to support blockchain initiatives.

• We are not providing recommendations on which initiatives are best for your company or for your market in this deck. That would warrant a deeper discussion and analysis.

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AGENDA

Intros: the firm the contributor(s) to this deck

Suggested reading about blockchain

Step 1: assess threats

Step 2: prioritize change

Step 3: align initiatives

Step 4: build your team and kick off the project

Conclusion

Contact Us

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THE FIRM

Harmeda supports and leads advisory projects for financial services, consulting and technology clients in targeted areas:

1. We provide our clients with subject matter experts who have experience with blockchain and other innovative technologies

2. We lead small strategic engagements to prepare for key decisions and larger projects

3. We provide engagement and project managers, well versed with Agile and waterfall methodologies

4. We deliver advisory, strategy and implementations services, working with teams of experienced consultants. When needed, we establish PMOs, build roadmaps and recommend governance best practices.

5. We often work with implementation and consulting partners, reporting to or chairing steering committees at our clients.

Please visit www.harmeda.com for more details.

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THE AUTHOR

This deck was prepared by Max Dufour, a partner at Harmeda.

Max is a Senior Strategy & Technology Professional with a 15+ years track record completing successful, high impact and global projects for financial services, Fortune 500 and strategy consulting clients. 

Specialties:- Strategy Formulation- Digital Transformation- Deal Flow Generation- Technology Due Diligence- Deal execution- Value Creation- Operational Excellence- Program Management- Subject Matter Expertise- Technology Management

Please visit www.harmeda.com for more details.

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SUGGESTED READING

This deck is a summarized version of the article “Blockchain? Did you say blockchain?” which was posted on LinkedIn in January 2017.

This slideshow is meant to be used as a companion to the article, for those who are ready to start or revamp a blockchain initiative.

2 related articles that you might find interesting are also available online:• 10 changes which will impact the Financial Services industry by 2030• 4 steps to formulate a digital strategy supporting profitable growth

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AGENDA

Intros: the firm the contributor(s) to this deck

Suggested reading about blockchain

Step 1: assess threats

Step 2: prioritize change

Step 3: align initiatives

Step 4: build your team and kick off the project

Conclusion

Contact Us

We are now going to cover the 4 steps in the process.

Some steps have been broken down across multiple slides

for clarity purposes.

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STEP 1: ASSESS THE THREATS

Look for and write down threats to your business, for example:

1. Look for areas where disintermediation and automation would shrink costs.

2. Look for particularly slow processes, low margin businesses or resources hungry areas.

3. Look for transactional processes where many similar steps are required and where errors are often found, creating needs to streamline verifications, reconciliations and validations.

4. Look for fast growing non-standard products where operations are still mostly manual and repetitive.

5. Determine which processes could be improved using a shared spreadsheet or ledger that users or systems could update in real-time, which is - at a high level - where blockchain brings the most to the table.

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STEP 2: PRIORITIZE CHANGE

Starting from your list from step 1, match threats to opportunities and risks, by doing the following:

1. Scan the market: what are competitors doing? what solutions are being built by vendors?

2. Asses the risk for a business to be disrupted and the appetite for new solutions.

3. Find white space: where is innovation weak? Where does your firm have a solid strategic advantage? What solutions would fill the gaps?

1 2 3 4

You can get ideas about specific initiatives, free resources and patents in the article “Blockchain? Did you say blockchain?”

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STEP 2: DOCUMENT CHANGE

At the end of the day, a key question is: “which changes will have the most positive long-term impact for the firm?”

The answer should be:• A list of initiatives most likely to succeed and to have a positive impact• Prioritized by ball-parked financial impact, such as:

• initiative's total cost• expected Return on Investment• expected impact on the bottom line

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STEP 3: ALIGN INITIATIVES

It is now time to align the initiatives from step 2 with the strategy and the business.

To do so, the firm’s blockchain experts and business leaders come together and carefully review the proposed initiatives:

• Technology and business leaders decide which initiatives they want to own but also which ones need to go to the "parking lot".

• Which ones truly leverage the strengths of blockchain? • Which ones cannot be realistically tackled due to impending regulations or

current compliance mandates? • Which ones fit within the budgets and can be funded until completion? Which

ones are vital to the organization’s future? • Which ones test best with customers and focus groups? • Which ones are best aligned with the strategy and long-term growth objectives?

The question at this stage is “what is the best way to allocate resources to optimize delivery across selected initiatives and achieve goals at the firm level?”.

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STEP 4: BUILD YOUR TEAM

It is now time for the leadership team to get together and match talent to tasks:

1. Leaders should now own specific initiatives.

2. They need to determine the resources they need and build up their teams.

3. Each team should be comprised - of course - of developers with a blockchain background but also of business leaders, architects and project managers.

Talent in that space can be very scarce but it can be mitigated by bringing in high potential individuals with company and industry experience, who can be trained and learn quickly about blockchain.

1 2 3 4

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STEP 4: PROJECT KICK OFF

It is now time to kick off the project.

• Agile, Scrum, Lean Startup and Design Thinking principles are all good foundations which can be complemented with software tools (such as Jira or VersionOne) and additional methodologies favored by the firm for similar venture design projects.

• One of the most critical considerations is to determine what tools, existing components, current intellectual property, patents and programming languages can be used to speed up and optimize delivery.

• It is going to save time to inventory the assets the firm can have access to for this specific initiative. It includes the firm's intellectual property but also publicly available assets, such open source components, updates on their progress, testing environments and blockchain resources, which can prove invaluable when envisioning, building and testing solutions. Some useful links are provided in the article “Blockchain? Did you say blockchain?”

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STEP 4: REPORT UP

• Teams should be able to mostly function independently but it is key to keep connections between them and allow cross-cooperation.

• Having a bi-weekly meeting between all the team leads and a monthly forum for all to share progress, learn about other streams, provide industry updates and address challenges can prove very beneficial.

• Lastly, regular updates to steering committees should address what can be delivered, when, at what cost and how they will benefit the firm. High level risks and challenges should be shared as well.

• As in any new ventures, experimentations can go well or sometimes not lead to conclusive next steps as planned. It is important to share scenarios, wire frames, live demos with flaws and proposed changes to the process, such as extending the timeline, bringing in help or expanding efforts into new areas.

The on-going goal for the team leads is to foster support through transparency and resourcefulness.

1 2 3 4

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AGENDA

Intros: the firm the contributor(s) to this deck

Suggested reading about blockchain

Step 1: assess threats

Step 2: prioritize change

Step 3: align initiatives

Step 4: build your team and kick off the project

Conclusion

Contact Us

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IN CONCLUSION

Best case scenario?

• Your firm will identify the ideal strategic blockchain initiatives to explore.

• It will end up having the right team and the right processes to take potential solutions all the way to the live stage, where the business will start seeing real tangible value in its day-to-day operations.

• That will trigger a second waves of initiatives with more funding and larger teams to transform the entire business and contribute to the re-invention of the financial services industry.

How are your blockchain initiatives going? Feel free to share your comments or to reach out directly.

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CONTACT US

For more information about our work and for our insights, please visit www.harmeda.com

To discuss your project needs or for any questions, please contact:

Max Dufourmdufour@harmeda.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxime/

PartnerBoston, MA

Thank you for taking the time to go through our materials. We hope we will get to work together in the near future.

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KEYWORDS

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