PORTFOLIO ā—ˇFOCUS TECHNOLOGY Budgeting for tech starts with strategy Assessing how to pay for innovation can be tricky. There are numerous solutions out there, each with its own timeline for implementation, training and return on investment. Community bankers say this process must start with a strategy to drive tech and innovation investments. By Kelly Pike ommunity bankers know that strategy is an ongoing activity, not a project. It requires looking forward two to three years while making minor course corrections to a bank's roadmap in the near term. Budgeting for innovation and technology isn't all that different. A good budget aligns with strategy, understanding where the bank wants to go in both the immediate and long term to build a budget that maximizes value while minimizing spend. Yet the past year and a half has been anything but typical, causing many community banks to make significant revisions to strategy. Often, that means they have accelerated technology investments to adapt to a world of social distancing and remote work. As boards revisit their strategies and assess the efficacy of the tactics deployed to support them, those responsible for budgeting for innovation and technology are C 32 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q August 2021 Illustration by Bubaone/Getty