SMBC Nikko Securities cuts development time by 50% with OutSystems

Balancing speed and quality by rethinking development processes and resourcing

Founded in 1918 as Kawashimaya Shoten, SMBC Nikko Securities offers asset management and stock and bond underwriting services through 105 offices in Japan and more than 10 overseas locations. Under its 2025 medium-term plan, the company is strengthening its operations with digitalization and strategic IT investments. The Systems Planning Department of SMBC Nikko Securities is driving digital transformation by integrating low-code, cloud, and generative AI solutions to build a more optimized and resilient enterprise infrastructure. 

"Business and IT strategy are like the two wheels of a vehicle—one cannot function without the other. To advance our bank-securities integration goal, we needed an IT strategy that unifies global operations, while keeping us agile and adaptable in today’s fast-changing landscape."

Shinsuke Yoshioka

Executive Officer, Head of System

SMBC Nikko Securities

However, rapid changes in the external environment —including shifts in customer behavior after COVID-19, regulatory changes, and accelerating digital transformation— exposed challenges such as longer development cycles and limited resources. To address this, the company reviewed its development approach and explored low-code platforms to improve efficiency and flexibility.

"While we continued to utilize RPA and field-driven improvement processes, we also needed an environment where IT and business teams could collaborate more closely to deliver improvements quickly while maintaining governance. OutSystems emerged as an option that bridges the gap between large, complex IT-led core systems and end-user computing, enabling both business and IT teams to rapidly incorporate requirements together."

Akira Hirama

Section Manager, IT Architecture Planning / System Planning Department

SMBC Nikko Securities

A flexible platform to support diverse business needs

To meet diverse business needs, SMBC Nikko Securities selected OutSystems for its ability to provide governance across the entire system lifecycle while enabling rapid and flexible application development. The platform’s flexibility to develop front-end systems independently from core systems —while maintaining strong integration with core and peripheral systems— was a key factor in the decision. Its ease of learning, visualized development outputs, and the potential for knowledge sharing were also evaluated as important elements for sustaining in-house development. 

To validate the platform, the company launched a pilot project to integrate banking and securities information into a single interface. Through iterative prototyping between business and IT teams, the project confirmed that OutSystems could flexibly incorporate evolving requirements. The pilot also verified API connectivity with core systems, UI capabilities, and compliance with internal policies and development processes.

"To verify the value of in-house development, we had new employees—fresh out of training—work with an external vendor on everything from requirements definition to development. Our senior engineers were impressed that these new hires, with no prior development experience, could take ownership for multiple screens. This made us realize how easy and effective development can be with OutSystems."

Akira Hirama

Section Manager, IT Architecture Planning / System Planning Department

SMBC Nikko Securities

Accelerating in-house development and reducing development time 

SMBC Nikko Securities now operates OutSystems across both cloud and on-premises environments, with applications used by approximately 10,000 employees across the group. 

To date, around 16 internal applications have been developed, including an app that enables employees to access through a single interface banking and securities account information for customers who have provided information-sharing consent. The development team has expanded from an initial team of five to around 20 developers, including partner companies, supported by a Center of Excellence (CoE) to strengthen governance and developer enablement. 

Since adopting OutSystems, the company has achieved up to a 50% reduction in development time compared with traditional waterfall development, while also reducing operational workload through a unified development environment. 

OutSystems has also supported digital talent development.  

"While the importance of IT systems continues to grow, our headcount has not kept pace. Although outsourcing allows us to leverage specialized expertise, it also presents challenges in terms of cost balance and knowledge retention. As we continue to recruit and develop digital talent, OutSystems has become an important tool for expanding our in-house development capabilities."

Shinsuke Yoshioka

Executive Officer, Head of System

SMBC Nikko Securities

Looking ahead, the company plans to position OutSystems as a starting point for organizational transformation, enabling business and IT teams to collaborate in creating business value. It will also expand CoE adoption and developer training while exploring AI-assisted development tools such as OutSystems Mentor.