nCino Team
The Empiric nCino team has been there, and in this blog post, we'll shed light on the strategic approach to staffing your project for short and long-term success.
We've documented the nCino landscape over the past year on the Empiric blog - be sure to check out our recent pieces on inspiring nCino career journeys, tactics for recruiting top talent, and effective staffing strategies.
nCino has become a system of choice for banks seeking to digitally transform their lending and customer experience and with revenue growth of 21% in Q1 of fiscal 2024, the demand for skilled professionals continues to grow.
That's why Empiric's nCino Practice Lead, Kyle Kuhn, emphasizes finding the right fit for all your specialized nCino roles. From project management, system configuration and data migration to complex integrations with legacy systems and ongoing user support, nCino requires skills across a wide range of technical and functional domains that are in high demand.
But it’s the lack of long term planning that can hamper operations. Emma McCarthy, a senior consultant at Empiric, puts it this way: "Once the contractors who set everything up leave, banks often realize they're stuck. They don't have anyone in-house who truly gets the whole nCino system, both the technical side and how it works for their business. This makes it really tough to get the most out of nCino in the long run by making adjustments and improvements over time."
For optimal cloud implementation, the team suggest a strategic talent approach to manage costs and ensure knowledge is transferred between temporary and permanent hires.
Here's how: Leverage temporary staffing during the initial push for cost-effectiveness then supplement with specialized contractors for specific tasks requiring unique expertise. Crucially, plan ahead and hire permanent full-time employees (FTEs) to build long-term internal knowledge. You’re left with ongoing system ownership and optimization.
"nCino implementations work best as projects," Kyle said. "That's why contractors are great for specialized roles like project managers, system architects, and tech consultants. We have a whole team of over 200 nCino experts we can bring in quickly. They've all tackled similar projects before, so they know how to keep things on schedule and make sure everything gets done properly."
"At the same time, banks also need to bring in FTEs for ongoing management - Think nCino administrators, business analysts, and product owners." Emma explained. "They get stuck right in during the implementation to learn everything from the ground up. Then, after launch, they basically become the system owners. They handle things like nCino's twice-a-year updates, building new custom features, making sure nCino stays aligned with the bank's changing plans, and overall, just keeping everything running smoothly for the users."
"That's why having a couple of FTEs really involved in the nCino implementation is so important," Emma added. "They become the bank's nCino experts. They learn everything inside and out during the project, and after launch, they're there for the long haul. This is what so many banks miss - having that deep knowledge and stability after everything is up and running. We've helped numerous clients strike that ideal balance between contractor expertise for the implementation heavy-lift and permanent staff for long-term self-sufficiency."
The specific staffing mix and headcount ratio depends on factors like the size and complexity of the bank's implementation, number of integrations, lines of business included, and the user base. But that flexibility to scale up or down with a hybrid contractor/FTE model allows for optimized cost control and staffing precision based on evolving needs.
"Every bank's situation is different, so our team is flexible and ready to talk things through with you," Kyle said. "For some banks, it might just be a handful of contractors to handle the nCino updates twice a year, on top of a strong core team of FTE admins, business analysts, and support staff. That might be all they need. But for other banks, a whole team of FTEs across different areas, like business analysts, project managers, technical architects, and developers, can give them a bigger advantage in the long run."
"This way of doing things lets banks pick and choose the right experts for the job, which gets them up and running with nCino fast and without breaking the bank," Emma explained. "But it also makes sure they have some FTEs who become the system owners for the long term. These are the people who will keep making sure nCino works for the bank's ever-changing needs and gets the most value out of the investment. It's basically getting two things for the price of one."
With over a decade of combined experience providing Salesforce and nCino staffing solutions, the Empiric team specializes in curating the ideal mix of contractors, permanent hires and staffing ratios for each unique client's transformation needs. The team is well-positioned to advise banks on crafting an optimal talent strategy - finding that precise sweet spot between interim contractors and permanent FTEs to drive both short and long-term nCino success.
We go beyond just skills to ensure cultural fit and empower your growth ambitions – get in touch and we can tailor the perfect nCino staffing solution for you.
Learn more about Empiric's nCino capabilities on our dedicated nCino page and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter below.
