Ever since banking has gone digital, security risks have drastically multiplied. As a result, banks need to opt for high-end & secure data storage units that reduce the chances of malicious attacks and enable quick recovery.
These factors (among others) have led many banks to opt for cloud computing and storage in recent years. As per Deloitte, chief information officers, C-suite executives, and board members are increasingly focused on cloud computing.
However, before your bank takes this monumental leap, you might want to know a bit more about cloud computing and how it can help your bank.
So, here we will discuss why cloud technology is the future of banking and the critical steps involved in acing your bank’s cloud transformation.
Why Is Cloud Computing Essential for Banks and Financial Institutions?
The banks of 2030 will be substantially different from the one we have now. Faced with shifting consumer expectations, rising technology, and alternative business models, banks must begin planning today to ensure they are ready for the future. The best part is, any bank can afford a cloud transformation. You just need a competent team that is always ready to learn and evolve. After all, cloud transformation is not a one-time goal or target to be achieved, it’s a way of operation. For banks, cloud computing helps in:
- Scaling computing costs dynamically
- Devising new talents and ways of operations
- Drive business innovation
- Strengthen IT security
- Sync enterprises
- Build robust operations
Key Steps to Effective Cloud Migration For Banks
Here is the ultimate blueprint for effective cloud migration for your bank:
1. Start with a Strategy
Before you begin, you need to thoroughly vet your current network and IT infrastructure to identify the areas you hope to improve. Once you understand your system’s application, limitations, and areas of improvement, you can devise a strategy that entails the goals you are planning to accomplish with this migration in measurable units.
2. Understand Which Applications Can be Transferred
Specific applications like standard applications and the ones devised using service-oriented frameworks can be transferred to the cloud. However, certain applications like the ones that are built with massive customisations cannot be shared. Therefore, during the audit you run on your IT environment, you will need to list out the applications that can be migrated so that you can plan your next step accordingly.
3. Hiring the Right Team
Your bank alone cannot handle the technical nitty-gritty of full-fledged cloud migration. You need a competent team with substantial experience in the IT domain to help you with the transfer. After all, along with enabling the transfer for applications, the dependent networks and apps will also be required to adapt to the new IT environment, which only an expert can help you accomplish.
4. Secure Your Data
You will undoubtedly have loads of sensitive data that you simply cannot afford to compromise in a bank. Hence, before you go through with the migration, you need to take sufficient precautions to prevent data corruption or loss. You should also keep a backup of all the data set to be transferred for the worst-case scenario. Choosing the right team will prove to be especially beneficial in this case since the experts would be able to facilitate secure transfers without the threat of data loss or leak.
5. Be Ready to Blend into the New Environment
Once the migration is accomplished, you also need to plan to adapt your entire work culture to the new environment and maintain the cloud. This includes preparing a support team, introducing the system into your daily operation, assessing operation and maintenance expenses, and looking out for potential future crises.
Factors that Influence Cloud Transformation of your Bank
Cloud transformation requires a little groundwork and a clear blueprint to operate without friction. Therefore, when it comes to transforming the business model with cloud computing, four significant factors come into play:
1. Aligning Cloud Transformation to Your Business Model
Cloud transformation is indeed a huge change. Hence, it’s essential to ensure that every unit and department are on the same page before you begin. It’s also crucial to identify the potential obstacles beforehand to design a plan to mitigate or bypass the hurdles.
2. Ability to Adapt
While your IT department will be the backbone of cloud transformation, every employee would require basic technical skills to adapt to the new environment. Your employees would also need to have a mindset to adapt, learn and evolve. As the digital world progresses, each industry and its organisation will undergo substantial remodelling and evolution.
3. Assisting Your Employees Throughout the Transformation
Any organisation’s major environmental or operational change needs to be gradually imbibed and introduced to the employees to facilitate a smooth transition to retain productivity.
The wise thing to do here is to offer sufficient training to your bank employees and prepare them for the changes that are about to come. Banks cannot afford to put their services on hold indefinitely just to train their employees. Hence, the cloud transformation has to be very gradual.
4. Adoption and Familiarisation
Banks must fortify the new work environment with new policies, strategies, and support frameworks from your bank’s end.
This includes offering round-the-clock support in case the employees run into a new problem. You can also accelerate the transformation by helping them see their growth through this.
Is Cloud Transformation Necessary For Your Bank?
Cloud transformation is the key break free from traditional and outdated tools that are holding back your bank’s true potential. It enables banks to modernise their operation for higher reliability, higher security, better service, and easy functioning at a reduced cost.
It’s no more about if a bank needs cloud transformation or not. Banks in India have already started adapting to the new way of life. Your bank needs a more modernised approach to banking that cloud banking offers to keep up with the competition.
Wrapping Up
One of the crucial components of cloud transformation is having someone to help you integrate and upgrade your existing IT infrastructure. At Finezza, our specialists understand what banks and financial institutions need to boost their services. We offer a customised, AI-powered lending lifecycle management platform to take your bank to the next level. You are just one click away from preparing your bank to be future-ready.
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