The Singapore Management University (SMU) is proud to be the first university in Asia, and perhaps in the entire world, to offer a professional Master degree programme tailored to groom professionals to assume Technology and Operations leadership positions in the banking sector. We are fully committed to making this programme a valuable experience for each student, and to being a highly valued educational partner for the global Financial Services industry.

Across all segments of the global banking industry, the relationship between "the business" and the technology that enables it is so important that most major banks have been unifying their various Technology groups and Operations groups under a common senior executive. This head of Technology and Operations is responsible for a significant share of the bank's employment, operating costs, capital investment and overall business performance. The Technology and Operations group is also the enabling force for implementing change initiatives or organizational transformations required for improving the bank's competitive capabilities.

Senior professionals with responsibility for the bank's IT capability and process transformation must understand how products and information flow throughout the enterprise and across the global financial system. They must understand end-to-end flows across customer interactions, the front office, the middle office and the back office in terms of processes and data, and also in terms of enabling software applications.

These professionals need a framework to understand current and new requirements for banking specific IT applications. In addition, they need to know how to compare and evaluate alternative technology and transformation solutions, and make related architectural trade-offs based on both business needs and technology considerations.

In order to manage and lead technology enabled change efforts, they must also have the capability to prepare and defend a business case and decide strategies for outsourcing and setting up of global hubs. They also need the people skills to manage projects that include cross-functional teams within the bank, as well as external vendors.

The SMU Master of IT in Business (Financial Services) educates you to handle these types of challenges and responsibilities. The programme is co-designed and co-delivered with leading global and regional Financial Services organisations and with the supporting technology provider community.

Our strong collaboration with the industry ensures that the curriculum stays relevant and responsive to emerging trends, and that our students are well connected with potential employers.

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