In this exclusive interview, we speak with Jan Erik Secker, Head of Support Applications at Santander Consumer Bank AS. Jan Erik discusses his team’s structure, current priorities, challenges, and vendor selection criteria. He also shares insights from his experience in the Aurora Live Executive Business Network, highlighting its value in strengthening professional connections. 

Hi Jan Erik, thank you for joining us! I’m sure you have many areas of responsibility, so tell us about your team’s structure. How do the different departments work together and make decisions?

My unit serves different areas, both in business and internally. Shared Services manages many small applications and services in IT and different parts of the business. They focus on local country needs, with a strong drive to consolidate across the Nordic region.  Another unit is called Nordic Solutions, which can be compared to Shared Services as they also serve different parts of the business. The key solutions here are the established Nordic solutions and the solutions we provide to our brokers. Santander has a well-established broker solution across the Nordics, serving both local and global brokers. This team also handles common internal solutions used across the bank, like Atlassian Product, Jira, and deployment tools. 

Then there is the Mobile Solutions unit that handles a few mobile apps. Next, the Risk Systems unit handles risk systems. With more than 1.6 million customers and 176 billion in capital, managing our risk is key. Then I have the team that handles Financial & HR Systems. We also have a unit that manages all our Anti-Money Laundering systems. Effective anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) policies and measures are key to our integrity. Another unit, called Output Management & Archiving, handles document production like invoices and letters to customers. Two other individuals who report to me are the Risk Coordinator and Project Manager, and the IT Controller who manages the IT budget. 

So, the team leads manage their teams and respective backlogs. We use Scrum for all development teams. We have requests coming in from the business and do bi-weekly prioritization of the backlogs. On top of this, we have yearly and quarterly planning where we align dependencies between the different teams. Since we are running Scrum, if there are unforeseen dependencies, we can reprioritize and manage that on a 14-day basis. 

What current challenges are you facing?

I have a challenge that probably everyone in IT has: too many business wishes or requests and insufficient budget/manpower to handle those. Other than that, we are moving from on-prem to cloud. I also have some legacy applications to decommission. Luckily, we are on modern platforms without any mainframe or similar outdated technology.  

As an IT leader, why is it important to stay on top of industry trends?

In every job, not only for IT, you need to make sure that you’re up to date. In IT, the pace is always fast as there are new technologies coming up.  

I personally like to stay updated, so I don’t lose my competence and value. Also, for my units, we need to stay competitive and ensure that we give the best of breed to our business.  

So, if we hadn’t done that in the last decade, we would still be on a mainframe. There are shifting trends in terms of technology, databases, and cloud. Now, it’s a lot about artificial intelligence. So, we keep our eyes open to new technology that can make our business more effective and competitive. In that case, we can optimize our processes and utilize technology more efficiently. It’s always important to stay competitive as a company.  

You’ve been an Aurora Live member since August 2022. What made you become a member?

Firstly, it was a coincidence. I get many calls and offers, and usually, I just hang up. But for some reason, I didn’t when I got the call from Aurora Live. Another key factor is that the Network has a low entry point. It’s free of charge, and there are no hard obligations, except for meeting with vendors once a quarter for a couple of hours. So, the entry point and the obligations on my side are lower. There was nothing to lose and something to win. 

What are your top considerations when selecting vendors and solution providers? What is your experience with the 1-to-1 meetings with vendors so far?

I always consider price, as well as the capability and size of the vendors. Since we’re in the banking sector, we need to have reliable vendors. The robustness of the company is also important. I’ve had a few interesting meetings with vendors via the 1-to-1 meetings. There are always new vendors popping up.  

I’ve not had much time in the last few years to stay up to date on the vendors in the market, so the meetings have been a useful insight.  

In this business, we don’t change vendors often, maybe every second year. But it’s good to have the vendors on the radar when the time comes. 

How has the Network brought value since you joined?

Before the pandemic, I used to attend all sorts of events and was very active. But since the pandemic, I’ve been attending fewer events.  

So, what I appreciate most are your in-person events which happen once a quarter. The network has also strengthened my connection with my peers. I’ve met some old peers that I haven’t spoken to for many years at your events. The same goes for the vendors. There were a few vendors that I hadn’t spoken to much with because I didn’t have the time. But at your events, I managed to reconnect with them.  

The Network has strengthened both my peer connections and vendor connections.  

*The interview answers have been edited for length and clarity.