As emerging technologies such as mobility play an ever greater role in banking, it appears CTOs and CIOs are taking on the task of pulling banks’ often disparate lines of business closer together.

At the Bank of the West, CIO Kirsten Garen has embedded senior tech execs within every line of business.

Comerica CTO George Surdu sees collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders as key to the bank’s success in serving the customer.

“We use a variety of ways, an engaging set of collaborative capabilities to bring us together as one team,” Surdu told Bank Innovation. The bank is employing mobile devices and cloud-hosted data to connect across lines of business, driven by the technology team.

“The advent of mobility and cloud computing are are two key factors,” Surdu said. And it seems that these two factors combine to create a powerful set of collaborative tools. Everyone carries a mobile device, and cloud-hosted tools and data allow easy sharing of projects and ideas.

An example of where mobility and the cloud come together to improve the customer experience, Comerica commercial bankers, in a pilot program, are provided with tablet computers that include video functionality to allow them to travel to commercial clients wherever they might be. Business owners need more intensive banking services and traveling to the branch can be difficult for them. Commercial bankers also have access to collaborative tools including CRM tools to help provide a 360-degree customer view.

Comerica currently has new mobile apps for retail, private and commercial clients in development. Its retail app was most recently updated in September 2012 for Android devices and October 2012 for iOS.

Mobility and the cloud are also enabling the customer to come into clearer focus across the entire organization. For Comerica, this means deepening the collaborative relationships with outside partners.

The systems used to analyze customer data are getting more lightweight and powerful. Surdu pointed out that the changes in technology have meant that “we don’t have to build all these systems. We’re materially reducing customization in areas that don’t differentiate the bank.”

The bank is also working to cut down the number of vendors and reduce complexity throughout. “We’re getting away from ‘best of breed’ solutions to more complete solutions, and reducing the vendor base. I tell everyone it needs to look the same, feel the same, taste the same. Variability is too complex. Simplification and standardization offer a higher quality solution with fewer moving parts.”

Reducing vendors means consolidation in many cases. “They get a bigger piece of the pie and we get better pricing,” he said.

Collaboration with outside partners can also mean outsourcing tasks the bank formerly did internally. “Strong partnerships mean we don’t always need to have the intellectual capital. It becomes, how do you do a better job managing your supply base, improving contracts and SLA commitments.”

Collaboration inside the bank and partnership outside is the path Comerica is following, and the technology team is at the heart of both efforts.