Transformation Solutions

APAC Expansion and Solution Delivery Leadership for a UK Finance Data Platform

Challenge

A UK-based finance data management platform sought to expand its market presence into the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, targeting Banking and Financial Services (BFS) clients. The firm needed help with both business development and implementation leadership to establish credibility in the region, manage client delivery, and scale the brand’s capability footprint.

The immediate challenge lay in building trust with BFS clients through successful solution delivery while simultaneously growing the platform’s commercial base across APAC. There were additional complexities:

• A lack of in-region leadership familiar with the regulatory, data, and accounting landscapes of APAC.

• Need for cross-domain expertise across both technical implementation and functional accounting standards.

• Requirements to lead consultants, align delivery to client value, and standardize project methodology for scalability.

The client required a leader capable of both hands-on program delivery and strategic business expansion, bridging the commercial and technical transformation fronts.

Solution

Harmonic designed a transformation-led “APAC Delivery & Growth Enablement Model” to position the firm as a trusted partner in financial data management, while ensuring delivery excellence, risk control, and organizational scalability.

1. Strategic Market Entry & Positioning

• Conducted a market mapping exercise to identify Tier 1 and Tier 2 BFS institutions with digital transformation mandates.

• Developed a go-to-market strategy positioning the platform as a trusted financial data control and accounting automation partner.

• Formulated solution blueprints aligned with IFRS reporting standards, cloud adoption trends, and real-time analytics demands in the APAC financial sector.

• Defined commercial playbooks outlining entry pathways via pilots, proof-of-concept engagements, and co-innovation initiatives.

2. End-to-End Solution Delivery Framework

• Designed and executed a Delivery Excellence Framework (DEF) covering discovery, design, build, test, and go-live governance.

• Integrated functional and technical delivery streams, ensuring alignment between accounting logic, data warehouse integration, and application configuration.

• Established cross-domain delivery roles, enabling consultants to work across financial, data, and technology layers.

• Embedded a continuous improvement loop, capturing lessons learned and reusable delivery artefacts to shorten future implementations.

3. Business Analysis & Stakeholder Alignment

• Mapped stakeholder ecosystems across banks, insurers, and fintechs to understand operational and compliance dependencies.

• Conducted target operating model (TOM) workshops to define current vs future-state process flows for data ingestion, reconciliation, and ledger posting.

• Leveraged structured business analysis frameworks (interviews, workshops, requirements capture) to translate functional pain points into actionable solution designs.

• Ensured tight alignment between client CFO teams, IT architects, and product SMEs to manage scope and mitigate delivery risk.

4. Implementation Leadership & Governance

• Took ownership of solution deployment and managed services transition, leading steering committees and governance reviews.

• Implemented testing and parallel-run best practices, ensuring alignment with local reporting regulations and client control standards.

• Introduced project delivery playbooks that codified guidance on configuration, data migration, and integration testing across multi-entity finance systems.

• Created visibility dashboards to monitor milestone progress, issue management, and risk forecasting.

5. Capability Building & Team Development

• Designed and delivered an internal consultant development program covering project delivery excellence, data model understanding, and BFS client management.

• Established a knowledge-sharing ecosystem across regions, standardizing delivery artefacts, reusable modules, and product gap documentation.

• Led hiring, training, and career management initiatives to develop a strong APAC consulting bench, improving delivery agility and utilization.

• Fostered a high-performance culture built around accountability, collaboration, and proactive client communication.

Key Deliverables

• APAC Go-To-Market & Delivery Strategy

• Delivery Excellence Framework (DEF) and Governance Toolkit

• Stakeholder & TOM Blueprint

• Implementation Playbooks for Configuration, Testing, and Migration

• Project Performance Dashboard

• Consultant Capability Development Framework

Client Benefits

• Established a regional presence and delivery foundation for APAC BFS growth.

• Improved solution delivery quality through a unified delivery methodology and governance structure.

• Strengthened client trust via transparent communication, predictable delivery, and functional mastery.

• Accelerated time-to-value for BFS clients through standardised project artefacts and reusable components.

• Empowered local consulting talent to deliver end-to-end engagements with greater autonomy and confidence.