Complex business & technology projects
We plan and run technology projects from the business side.
We work where business, development and new technology meet, on your side. Together, we define what needs to be built, what success looks like, what it will cost and who should build it. Then we put the team together and manage delivery until it works and your team can run it on their own. At every step, you know what you are getting and what you are paying for.
- Define
- Plan
- Build the team
- Manage delivery
- Hand over
When people get in touch
You are about to launch something
The goal is clear, the route isn't. You need to know where to start, what to build and what to buy, who to hire and what it will cost.
Your team is busy, but the project isn't moving
Requirements change every week, decisions wait for the next meeting, and details get lost between the business and the developers. You need a clear way of working: who decides what, and who is responsible for what.
Nobody on your side is running the project
Developers and suppliers are working, but no one on the business side checks their plans, pushes for decisions or tells you plainly where things stand.
What we do
A project goes through five steps. You can bring us in for one step or for all five. Each step answers one of your questions and leaves you with something you can use.
01 Define
What exactly are we doing, and how will we know it worked?
We go through your goals, how the business will work and your limits: money, time, regulation, people. We write down what is in, what is out, and what the result must be for you to call it a success.
You get: the goal, the scope and the success criteria on paper, agreed by everyone who decides.
02 Plan
How will it be done, when and for how much?
We compare ways to deliver it, including what to build and what to buy, and break the work into stages. Each stage has a budget with its assumptions, its risks and a point where you decide whether to go on.
You get: a plan and a budget you can take to investors, a board or a supplier.
03 Build the team
Who does the work, and who answers for what?
We work out which people and suppliers the project needs and bring them in: your own staff, our specialists or outside contractors. We write role profiles, take part in interviews and help choose suppliers. Who signs with whom is agreed at the start.
You get: a team and suppliers in place, with responsibilities and decision rules agreed.
04 Manage delivery
Are scope, time and money on track?
We run the project from the business side, as your project lead or product owner. We set priorities with you, coordinate the team and suppliers, and take every change, risk and open question to a decision. Progress, costs and commitments are reported regularly, in plain language.
You get: a clear picture at any moment of what is done, what is spent, what is left and what you need to decide.
05 Hand over
Did it work, and can we run it ourselves?
We check the result against the success criteria agreed in the first step. Then we pass the product, the processes and the knowledge to your team and stay until they manage on their own.
You get: a result that works and a team that runs it without us. That is how we judge our work.
Why us
You stay in control of your project and your money
Projects most often go wrong where business and development meet. The business can't judge the developers' plans and estimates, the developers don't know the business, and nobody can say whether a new technology is worth the money. That is where we work, on your side.
You know before you commit.
What will be built, who will do it, how, when and for how much, and how you will check the result. On paper, before serious money is spent.
You know at every step.
Where the project stands, what it has cost so far, what is still to do and which decisions are yours.
We speak both business and development.
We have run businesses and built systems hands-on, so your board and your developers both understand us.
It stays yours.
Plans, requirements and processes are yours to keep. You can stop after any step or carry on without us.
A quick test: can you answer five questions about your project today? What are we doing? Who does it? How? When and for how much? How will we know it worked? Where an answer is missing, that is where we start.
Automation and AI, where they pay off
We use AI in our own work every day and have put it to work in client projects.
So we can tell what will really save you time and money from what only looks good in a demo. We were automating processes long before AI became fashionable.
- We start with the process and the data, not with the tool.
- We bring the technology in and keep compliance intact: every automated step can be traced and checked.
- No AI for the sake of AI: we say plainly where it will not pay off.
Where the rules are strict and the stakes are high
Regulators, auditors and compliance are part of the work for us, not an obstacle. We plan for their requirements from the first day of a project, not in the last week before launch. We have delivered projects in each of these areas.
FinTech
Brokerage, trading, payments, funds and asset management: platforms and integrations, market data, order management, reconciliation and back office. We work alongside your legal and compliance advisers.
Risk management
Market, credit and operational risk. We have modelled risk and built the systems that manage it: margin and exposure, limits, controls before and after a trade. We have also set up risk management inside companies as a day-to-day function, with procedures and reporting.
Data and analytics
We bring data from different systems together, clean it and build the reports and dashboards (BI) that owners and managers use to make decisions. We also work with financial and management accounting and reporting.
GovTech
Government information systems, public procurement and audit: projects where every step has to be documented, checked and justified.
The people you meet are the people who do the work
FiveFins is a small, experienced team covering business management, product management, business analysis and project management. We have built companies ourselves, including holding groups with dozens of companies, and managed complex projects within them. Years later, clients still use what we built and set up, without us.
Each person on the core team has more than ten years of management and hands-on work behind them, including C-level roles. Between us, we have worked on more than a hundred projects in the EU, Ukraine, Central Asia and North Africa, some of them funded by international development institutions.
Our experience includes:
- Trading platforms, brokerage infrastructure, market data and order management.
- Risk management and risk systems: market, credit and operational risk.
- Funds, asset management and investment operations.
- Payments, reconciliation and back-office systems.
- Finance, financial accounting, management accounting and reporting.
- Data consolidation and cleansing, BI and management information systems.
- Integrations between internal systems, external providers and counterparties.
- GovTech, public procurement and audit systems.
The core team leads every engagement. Specialists in architecture, compliance and back office join when needed. Who does what is agreed at the start.
We keep client work confidential. We don't publish client names or details that could identify a project. In a first conversation, we can explain how we work and discuss relevant work we have done, within those limits.
We start with a small, specific task
01A first conversation
You tell us the goal, where things stand and what decisions need to be made.
02We agree the first piece of work
We agree the scope, deliverables, who does what, timing and fee before we start.
03You get something you can use
A project plan, requirements, a budget model, a working process or another practical result, depending on what we agreed.
From there, the choice is yours: stop and keep the result, or go on with us through delivery to handover.
Common questions
Do you only work in FinTech?
No. Our experience includes FinTech, GovTech, public procurement, audit, finance and accounting, data and business systems. What these projects often have in common is complex processes, strict rules and a lot of data. Where deep industry knowledge is needed, we bring in the right specialists.
Can you work with our existing developers and suppliers?
Yes. We work alongside your team and suppliers, agree who is responsible for what and coordinate the work. Code reviews and engineering are agreed separately, with the specialists who do them.
Can we start with something small?
Yes. A focused review, a plan or a workshop is often a good first piece of work. We agree what you will get, who does what, how long it should take and what it costs before we start.
Can you help an investor and a development team get organised?
Yes. Together, we define the first stage, the requirements, the budget assumptions, who is responsible for what and what needs to be in place before more money goes in. At the start, we agree who is hiring us, whose interests we represent and how decisions will be made.
Can you help us use AI?
Yes, where it makes sense. We start with the business process, the data and the expected result, then work out where AI or automation can actually help. If it won't save time, reduce cost or improve the result, we will say so.
Do you handle licensing or legal work?
Yes. For licensing projects, we bring in lawyers, compliance advisers or licensing agents with relevant experience in the required jurisdiction. We define the work, put the right team together and manage the project through to the regulator's decision. The specialist legal and regulatory work is done by the relevant advisers, while we manage the overall project from the business side. Whether the licence is granted is for the regulator to decide.
How do you charge, and how long does it take?
A defined piece of work has a fixed price for an agreed scope. Ongoing project management and support are usually charged as a monthly fee, with responsibilities and time agreed in advance. We give you a price and expected timeline once we understand the work.
Tell us about your project
A few lines are enough: what you are working on, where it stands and what you need help with.
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Based in Cyprus. Working internationally.