THE BANKING CLOUD PLATFORM FOR GROWTH
The spring of 2020 certainly wouldn ’ t be the optimal time to pick for a complex migration of a banking system ’ s IT infrastructure into the cloud .
In recognition of UK financial services being tightly regulated , Wesleyan was looking for a secure cloud platform to fuel business transformation and growth . Blue Chip Cloud has an enviable collection of accreditations , which has enabled banking , wealth management and pharmaceutical companies to innovate within tight and ever-changing regulations
Traditionally , financial services organisations have looked upon cloud moves in a conservative manner due to regulatory pressures and perceived risks . When these combine with complex IT infrastructure it can be difficult to see a way forward .
Blue Chip Cloud is a game changer for the finance industry , who will often have a mixture of infrastructure to include traditional Windows and Linux environments , and the rock-solid IBM platforms such as IBM i , AIX and z / OS mainframe .
A cloud transition for Wesleyan Bank had long been scheduled for Easter Bank Holiday weekend , a month into the toughest phase of national lockdown in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic .
Thanks to careful planning with Wesleyan the transition into the Blue Chip Cloud was smooth and seamless . The delivery was carried out completely remote during lockdown , removing risk to all involved .
All of the Intel and AIX estate moved over , with Blue Chip managing the operating system , backups and the disaster recovery solution , while securely hosting some additional infrastructure that ’ s not cloud ready .
• 10 % of the 157 UK banks hosted
• £ 150bn + funds under management hosted
• 800 clients receive business critical services
COMPLIANCE IN THE CLOUD
The security accreditations held by Blue Chip are at the highest level , holding four ISO certifications which are audited annually by a UKAS-accredited body . The company also undergoes an annual independent review of Service Organisation Controls ( SOC ).
Blue Chip holds the highest standard for compliancy with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard - PCI-DSS Level 1 . In addition to banks ; famous retailers and supermarkets are customers , as this compliance covers online payments and card data .
“ We have many highly regulated customers in the Blue Chip Cloud under FCA and EBA parameters . As their key service provider , we help these customers meet their regulatory requirements by demonstrating our business and compliance maturity .” Derek Waterman Chief Compliance Officer , Blue Chip
Blue Chip gives financial services organisations assurance they can meet regulatory requirements . The continual improvement ethos and transparency enables the IT specialists to continually support their clients ’ journey with their regulators .
KEEPING SECURE IN THE CLOUD
The Blue Chip Cloud is underpinned by industryleading security vendors to build enterprise-class hardware and software solutions , with the availability , reliability and security demanded by the financial services industry .
CONTINUED ASSURANCE
We ’ re widely recognised as a highly secure home for global financial data , handling a substantial amount of the UK ’ s banking traffic and removing the risks associated with a move into the cloud .” Tim Stringer Chief Information Security Officer , Blue Chip
While reliability , agility and security are at the heart of the Blue Chip Cloud , another factor that makes Blue Chip a destination for companies that operate across 180 countries , is the consistency to deliver , even during a global pandemic . Delivering any new cloud project throughout a pandemic is an achievement , maintaining a level of support is another achievement all together . So , we close with a statement from their long-term banking software vendor who partner with Blue Chip to deliver services for multiple clients :
“ Blue Chip were equally as responsive and reliable as they were prior to the pandemic , when , for example , we put in a request to troubleshoot a particular hardware failure . The mobilisation of the virtual team at Blue Chip with our own virtual team was consistent , quick and everything we would have wanted it to have been .”