Financial services companies are often reluctant to rely on cloud computing services for reasons of internal security or privacy, which is imperative for companies in this highly regulated industry. Especially since the latter is in most cases subject to external audit at least every 18 months, the consequences of which can be devastating for customers, shareholders, employees or managers of the company in question. cases of proven violations of privacy or security.
As a result, 61 percent of companies in the financial services industry is not adopting a cloud-based data storage strategy, according to a study released by the Cloud Security Alliance. The latter, however, notes that 39 to 41 percent of financial services companies could opt for a hybrid strategy combining cloud storage and internal computing while 18 percent would look to outsource their data storage strategy to vendors. private cloud.
If your company belongs to these last two categories, here is the list of everything to avoid like the plague:
On the other hand, even though the majority of financial institutions prefer to keep their data in-house, even in this environment, there are established and emerging opportunities for cloud computing providers.
Card processing and mobile transactions
On the other hand, even though the majority of financial institutions prefer to keep their data in-house, even in this environment, there are established and emerging opportunities for cloud computing providers.
Some major banks handle their own credit, debit and ATM transactions, but most banks and credit unions choose Visa, MasterCard or a trusted third party with a Visa or MasterCard cooperation agreement to process their transactions by card and by mobile phone.
These cards and mobile payment processors now work in the cloud. Processors provide financial institutions with the specialized expertise they need in card processing, backed by decades of experience in fraud detection and security.
Marketing and customer relationship management
Most banks and credit unions, regardless of size, have difficulty with marketing. Their marketing teams are made up of people who are experts in the development and launching of campaigns and promotions, but they are reluctant to search and segment the markets in order to better target the products.
These institutions also have little expertise in developing finer analyzes that further dissect the needs of market segments. Cashiers and representatives in direct contact with customers in chat centers and Internet hotlines are no better - many of them do not understand what customers need or how they can help.
Cloud service providers like IMO provide market research and analysis that allows financial services companies to segment their markets and target their products so that they can increase their customer base and product penetration.
Salesforce has established itself as one of the leading cloud vendors for sales and customer relationship management (CRM) that helps front-line employees with its ability to combine customer information with everyone's sales and service channels in a 360-degree view of each customer.
Core banking
Large financial institutions have their own basic banking system, but such an option is not always within the reach of small and medium-sized banking institutions or some credit unions.
For these institutions, the best choice is to find a reliable cloud service provider that understands the financial services space and is able to provide a turnkey banking system ranging from online banking to online banking to electronic payment of invoices and the back office.
The well-established cloud service providers in this field are Fiserv and Jack Henry & Associates. Both companies offer a choice of basic banking systems in the cloud.
Human Resources and Talent Management
With the aging of internal HR systems, more and more financial services companies may need human resources services in the cloud that not only offer basic HR activities such as payroll and benefits management, but also new human resource software such as talent management, recruiting, training their employees and managing staff succession plans.
Oracle HCM (Human Capital Management) and SAP / SuccessFactors are some of the popular choices for the cloud in this area.
The infrastructure as a service
It should be noted that, as businesses in other sectors, banks and credit unions are concerned about the increase in operating costs of data centers.
Some choose to have their applications developed and tested by cloud-based Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers to avoid costly hardware and software upgrades. Once the applications are tested, they are reintroduced into the production environment in the data center of the bank. In other cases, banks and credit unions use cloud services to offload the risk management treatment of large portfolios.
In the area of risk management, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is used by some major banks to perform portfolio credit risk simulations in just 20 minutes.
The good news is that the financial services industry is already on track to establish best practices when it comes to working with cloud computing providers. Some of these best practices include:
As a result, 61 percent of companies in the financial services industry is not adopting a cloud-based data storage strategy, according to a study released by the Cloud Security Alliance. The latter, however, notes that 39 to 41 percent of financial services companies could opt for a hybrid strategy combining cloud storage and internal computing while 18 percent would look to outsource their data storage strategy to vendors. private cloud.
If your company belongs to these last two categories, here is the list of everything to avoid like the plague:
- Cloud providers that use third-party data centers, because the provider does not have full control over what can happen in the cloud;
- Cloud providers who are unwilling to provide up-to-date security, compliance, and financial health audits
- Cloud computing providers who lack expertise in financial services or who are not sensitive to the financial sector's requirements for information technology and governance.
On the other hand, even though the majority of financial institutions prefer to keep their data in-house, even in this environment, there are established and emerging opportunities for cloud computing providers.
Card processing and mobile transactions
On the other hand, even though the majority of financial institutions prefer to keep their data in-house, even in this environment, there are established and emerging opportunities for cloud computing providers.
Some major banks handle their own credit, debit and ATM transactions, but most banks and credit unions choose Visa, MasterCard or a trusted third party with a Visa or MasterCard cooperation agreement to process their transactions by card and by mobile phone.
These cards and mobile payment processors now work in the cloud. Processors provide financial institutions with the specialized expertise they need in card processing, backed by decades of experience in fraud detection and security.
Marketing and customer relationship management
Most banks and credit unions, regardless of size, have difficulty with marketing. Their marketing teams are made up of people who are experts in the development and launching of campaigns and promotions, but they are reluctant to search and segment the markets in order to better target the products.
These institutions also have little expertise in developing finer analyzes that further dissect the needs of market segments. Cashiers and representatives in direct contact with customers in chat centers and Internet hotlines are no better - many of them do not understand what customers need or how they can help.
Cloud service providers like IMO provide market research and analysis that allows financial services companies to segment their markets and target their products so that they can increase their customer base and product penetration.
Salesforce has established itself as one of the leading cloud vendors for sales and customer relationship management (CRM) that helps front-line employees with its ability to combine customer information with everyone's sales and service channels in a 360-degree view of each customer.
Core banking
Large financial institutions have their own basic banking system, but such an option is not always within the reach of small and medium-sized banking institutions or some credit unions.
For these institutions, the best choice is to find a reliable cloud service provider that understands the financial services space and is able to provide a turnkey banking system ranging from online banking to online banking to electronic payment of invoices and the back office.
The well-established cloud service providers in this field are Fiserv and Jack Henry & Associates. Both companies offer a choice of basic banking systems in the cloud.
Human Resources and Talent Management
With the aging of internal HR systems, more and more financial services companies may need human resources services in the cloud that not only offer basic HR activities such as payroll and benefits management, but also new human resource software such as talent management, recruiting, training their employees and managing staff succession plans.
Oracle HCM (Human Capital Management) and SAP / SuccessFactors are some of the popular choices for the cloud in this area.
The infrastructure as a service
It should be noted that, as businesses in other sectors, banks and credit unions are concerned about the increase in operating costs of data centers.
Some choose to have their applications developed and tested by cloud-based Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers to avoid costly hardware and software upgrades. Once the applications are tested, they are reintroduced into the production environment in the data center of the bank. In other cases, banks and credit unions use cloud services to offload the risk management treatment of large portfolios.
In the area of risk management, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is used by some major banks to perform portfolio credit risk simulations in just 20 minutes.
The good news is that the financial services industry is already on track to establish best practices when it comes to working with cloud computing providers. Some of these best practices include:
- Agree to opt for the cloud only if the cloud provider is SaaS
- Conclude trial or trial and purchase agreements with service providers in the cloud before signing a service agreement;
- Insist on testing disaster recovery and failover with the vendor at least once a year to ensure the vendor's systems will remain operational in the event of a crisis;
- Insist that only one point of contact is the cloud service provider representative or account manager.
