Has the finance ecosystem embraced cloud migration ?
DATA PERFORMANCE
Has the finance ecosystem embraced cloud migration ?
There are differing levels of cloud adoption across the broad church that is finance , our experts say . Many fintechs were born on the cloud , never having to face up to their legacy technologies – although maybe , as they mature over the next decade or two , that situation could change . By contrast , many incumbent institutions have been slower to make the transition for a number of different reasons .
“ A lot of fintechs were born cloud native , or very nearly cloud native , so they are arguably much more comfortable with what ‘ cloud ’ means in practice ,” SAS ’ Potts notes . “ Many finserv providers have cloud strategies and are on the journey to cloud . For the bigger and more established organisations , there are considerations due to their more complex data and technology estates that have evolved over years and may have been impacted by mergers , acquisitions or even splitting .”
Reilly adds : “ Many fintechs seek ways to leverage cloud transformation to organise and enrich data at scale , and take advantage of opportunities presented by the increased availability of data . More than ever before , it is important for them to utilise modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to capitalise on this data influx .
“ An ever-growing number of fintechs have started moving their infrastructure , applications , and associated customer data to the cloud . Many have opted for a hybrid approach , but there is a mix of on-premise capabilities that work side by side with cloud-based infrastructure . These companies are working with leading cloud providers to help facilitate their cloud migration , and these providers will offer tailored capabilities such as managing and storing data compliance and security . Agile , digitalfirst or startup fintechs are more likely to embrace cloud solutions than more complex companies dealing with legacy IT headaches .”
“ A GOOD CUSTOMER DATA STRATEGY SHOULD ENABLE SMARTER AND MORE INFORMED DECISION MAKING , AND HELP ORGANISATIONS TO OFFER A BETTER AND MORE PERSONALISED LEVEL OF SERVICE ”
LOUISE POTTS HEAD OF BANKING CUSTOMER ADVISORY PRACTICE , SAS UK & I
“ For example , in Latin America , where many people have thin credit files , we are seeing organisations turning to alternative data sets – not just traditional credit information – to understand if a person is a candidate for credit . This might be data surrounding their regular monthly repayments , such as utility bills or a phone contract , rather than solely relying on a banking file .”
Jay Reilly , SVP EMEA at Precisely , concurs that fintechs tend to lack integrity of data rather than quantity : “ To have insight into customer lifecycles , fintechs need to be able to quickly connect customer data across the organisation and understand the context in which customers are engaging .
50 June 2023