Many executives talk about aligning IT and the business, and some actually collaborate on small projects or one-time efforts. Very few, however, work as closely together as do Jim Walker and the IT executives at recently created financial services giant, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Corporate mergers and acquisitions can create huge headaches for all involved. And the merger of the two giant investment companies in June 2009 created the largest, global wealth-management brokerage in the world, with $283 billion in assets under management by the end of last year. That’s quite a headache! It necessitated “the largest integration effort” of two firms in the history of wealth management based on the number of accounts, assets and systems that need to be merged, according to Walker, COO for the Investment Strategy and Solutions Group, the wealth management arm of the new company. And a large part of the integration involves merging the IT systems to be used by 18,500 financial advisors in 42 countries, as well as about 6.8 million consumers worldwide.

Walker participated in a panel discussion about IT value at the MIT CIO Symposium in May, where he said that there is often "creative tension" between a CIO and the COO. At MSSB, he said, for better or worse, “We are joined at the hip."

After the panel, Walker told me that CIO Moira Kilcoyne has taken an active role in the corporate merger efforts, and now she and her team — including ISSG business unit IT director, Dan McGuire — continue to work in lockstep with Walker on the ongoing integration efforts. It’s clearly an example of business and IT teams working together daily; they also hold regular weekly meetings to assess progress, he said.

The two-year restructuring and system integration — which is about halfway complete — affects the entire business and is the highest priority for the new company, Walker said. He reports back to corporate COOs and other integration executives. MSSB combines Morgan Stanley’s Global Wealth Management Group with Citi's Smith Barney in the U.S., Quilter in the U.K., and Smith Barney Australia’s retail units.

Staying Focused, Looking Seamless

One of Walker’s roles is to ensure that the focus remains on the business value of IT systems and process automation — not on the technology itself. In such a huge endeavor, the end results have to be kept in mind and “the tangible value has to be demonstrated,” he said. Additionally, Walker advised other executives at the conference to stay focused on a project’s goals and not allow the projects to mushroom and distract them from the original plan. “Sometimes, it’s harder to stop doing things than to start them,” he said.

At MSSB, Walker also evaluates the business risks of IT decisions and serves as a liaison between IT and the rest of the business. “I can help get resources or I can say no … I have a track record with the business units,” he told me.

The biggest challenge? Making sure that the integration work done behind the scenes is seamless to end users and consumers, he said. “It’s a little like putting an old engine in a new car,” he said. “It has to run smoothly.” And a good part of his job is to make sure systems not only run smoothly but that headaches are kept to a minimum.

I hope to follow up with Walker and the IT team as the massive integration efforts wind down to see how well they’ve achieved their goals. At the same time, I’m sure that the partnership between business and IT will remain an ongoing relationship.

Jim Walker is Chief Operating Officer, ISS group, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
MSSB’s Investment Strategy and Solutions Group is the wealth management arm of Morgan Stanley. He works closely with business units in ISS and across the company in developing strategies, building relationships and managing risk. He is also responsible for investment research delivery and The Investment Group — the high net worth asset management business — as well as finance, legal technology and human resources.
Prior to this position, Walker was Director of Finance, Risk and Strategy for Global Wealth Management Investments at Citi. He also spent 20 years at Merrill Lynch as Chief Administrative Officer, Americas, for the Global Private Client business.
He holds an advanced degree from MIT’s Sloan school, where he was a Fellow and where he continues to lecture and teach.