In the West we should be planning for this to be a three-to six-month event, but China shows that things could bounce back more quickly in the short term, even while the risk of a resurgence in infections during the next Northern Hemisphere winterremainsarealconcern.Thisisasituationwhereitmakessensetoplanforthe worstwhilehopingforthebest. The other implication of the uncertain duration is the need to minimize wasting We believe banks moneyondisposableresponses.Alessonfromthelastfinancialcrisisisthatmany banksputrowsofpeopleinwarehousestosortoutcomplianceissuesbutdidnot should act quickly buildinstitutionalmuscle.Incontrast,thebestbanksinvestedintechnology and automationsolutionsthathadlong-runbenefits. yet resist the natural As you think about your operating model response to this crisis, we believe you should act quickly yet resist the natural impulse to only think short-term. It is importantthatyousolveissueswithoneeyeonthefuture.Thiscrisiswillaccelerate impulseto think manyexistingtrends,liketheshifttodigitalsales,sotherecanbelong-termvaluein developing short-termmitigants. short-term only. It is Another recommendation is therefore that you adopt the design principle of investinginthingsthatwilloutlivethevirus.Asmentionedabove,theanalytics important to solve required to support targeted credit interventions could be pivoted to support “segment of one” cross-selling in sunnier times. If handled properly, the pivot issues with one eye toremoteworkingcanbesustainedbeyondthecrisis,creatingaworkforce transformation that many banks have talked about, but few have followed on the future. through on.Our Elastic Digital Workplace report offers a roadmap and practical recommendations to embark on and embed this change. Finally,thisisagreatopportunitytotesttheefficacyofnewadvicepropositions,to understand what works and what doesn’t in an environment where customers are likelytobeforgivingofexperimentation.So,don’tbesnowblindinthiscrisis–tryto designinterventionsandinitiativesthathavelong-termvalue. 21COVID-19: Open letter to retail and commercial banking CEOs