The Covid-19 epidemic has hastened digital adoption in the banking industry, resulting in new, permanent habits among firms and customers. Financial institutions are reconsidering their previously short-sighted cloud-adoption plans because of a reinvigorated appreciation for digital transformation.

In essence, cloud computing is a skeleton key that may be used to open any door leading to a more innovative and agile future. Banks, in particular, must realise that the cloud is much more than a storage solution.

To stay relevant, they must migrate to the cloud and at the same time, should also be prepared to confront unique and complicated challenges related to risk, compliance, portability and security by integrating controls and guardrails and codifying the policies. Banks could also use the cloud to build new business models that add value, engage with customers, and supply distinctive products and services.

Here are just six of the many doors cloud can unlock for financial institutions:

1. Streamlined operations

The advantages of cloud computing for financial firms are threefold: lower storage costs, increased compute, and greater access to information from any place. This trio enables companies to outsource necessary but non-brand-specific processes while also gaining access to cutting-edge technology. A thorough audit could determine which procedures should be kept in-house, which should be outsourced, and which can be removed entirely.

2. Application modernisation

To be current and competitive, banks must upgrade modern online apps frequently. If engineered well then the cloud can support modular design, which allows developers to change or replace specific parts of an application or system without disrupting the entire system, as well as deployment automation, which leads to faster feedback loop, increased collaboration, greater consistency across environments, and, most importantly, more time for engineers to focus on new software development

3. Customer centricity

Banks now have more information on customer behavior and more resources to make sense of it than ever before, thanks to the cloud's exponential expansion in data collecting and computational capacity.

The issue is no longer a lack of data, but rather a lack of access to the necessary cloud-native tools to analyses it and generate insights. The financial institutions can extract relevant information, synthesise multiple sources of data for a centralised view of the customer with a customer data platform (CDP), or create real-time models of behaviours and intent-signals with the Identity Applied Platform (IAP) by deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) over cloud. Cloud-based systems like these and others provide various levels of data collection and analysis, which banks may utilise to improve client connections and experiences.

4. Security and compliance

To protect consumers from fraud and maintain trust in the banking system, regulatory organisations must closely monitor the financial industry. Safety and transparency should be primary priorities for all enterprises in this field, and rightly so. The growing popularity of cloud in financial services demonstrates not just that it is a great investment, but also that its security solutions have advanced significantly over time. Cloud-based AI can evaluate large volumes of data and make real-time recommendations to help with safety. When properly implemented with resiliency and portability considerations, cloud environments can be safer than traditional storage methods and assure industry compliance specifically by codifying the policies and integrating controls and guardrails.

5. Continuous transformation

Banks will have more time, resources, and knowledge to complete their digital transformation journeys as more of their operations shift to the cloud. Financial institutions can ensure that their cloud-enabled transformation programmes are delivered with an agile and continuous-improvement mindset by prioritizing cost savings, return on investment along with revenue generation. Cloud-based measurement solutions can track key performance indicators to assist organizations in maximising business value and cut costs while improving tools and processes across the board.

6. Composable banking

Cloud computing provides a new standard of core banking modernisation, which is transforming the banking landscape as we know it. Every financial institution has a system in place to manage its banking operations. Moving to the cloud is becoming more affordable thanks to the availability of both cloud providers and startups that build core banking functions in the cloud. Rather than locking companies into hard-coded integrations, cloud based composable banking lets companies build and change their banking products quickly and easily – essentially letting them compose what’s right for them entirely in the cloud.

Skeleton key for Industry

Most people know that cloud is a method for storing information at data centers around the world, so it doesn’t need to be saved and run locally. Cloud is not a specific kind of software but a network of ondemand computer-system resources that add agility to systems architectures. It’s not really a solution to a specific problem. It’s a computing paradigm that enhances and accelerates other technologies so they can solve a wealth of problems. But they need to understand the true scope of the cloud revolution.

(The author is Vice President Technology at Publicis Sapient)

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW