One represents the convergence of four individually disruptive technologies into a symbiotic stack that even onomatopoeically conjures a hit – SMAC! The other is, well, the treasury function – a centralized non-customer facing operation overseen by graying executives in HQ and run by soon-to-be-graying executives, or burnouts, in the trading room.  

It's hard to envisage the treasury function being transformed by next-generation technologies in the same way as, say, retail banking. But then again it's hard to imagine treasury operations being completely impervious to technologies that continue to redefine everything that they touch.      

Treasury operations span front, mid and back office activities and consequently, SMAC stack opportunities are as much about the technology as they are about the functions of each module.   

Let's start with social. Embedded amongst the billion citizens of just one network are the current and future consumers of treasury services.  That, as it is, is an opportunity to connect and engage with customers. Wells Fargo, for instance, recently took its customer advisory council social to scale up participation. From the perspective of young traders in dealing rooms, enabling closed trader communities can foster the productive exchange of ideas and benefit the group as a whole.  Social could probably play a role in flagging specific trades that could affect the entire community.

In today's increasingly mobile world, either there's an app for that or it’s a dodo. So, leveraging mobility to deliver products and services to the trading community or to enable customer access to accounts and transactions, is no longer a hot new feature, but plain hygiene. Mobility can also empower mid office executives with the concept of anytime anywhere office to boost productivity irrespective of location or time of day.          

In not many enterprise functions does analytics seem as ineluctable as it does in treasury operations. Analytics enables mid office executives to assess transactions in split seconds, even before they are completed, and take timely, appropriate action based on that insight. This real time feature can also help regulators understand the risks and implications of flash trades and take appropriate measures to manage the consequences. 

And finally, the 'as a service' component of the cloud is what puts the power of analytics within reach of even the smallest treasury operators. More importantly, the cloud represents an invaluable addition to the treasury function as it transitions beyond commodity, currency and government paper into weather exchange and carbon trading.

SMAC in treasury operations may not seem as glamorous as in retail banking. But it plays a definitive role in enhancing efficiency and performance across the entire ecosystem.