To effectively navigate digital transformation during the shift to the cloud, financial institutions are seeking innovative approaches to their cloud strategies. They face challenges related to cost, security, and scalability, with the initial stage of the conference focusing on strategic visibility, data ownership, cloud providers, and more.
The first panel on digital transformation featured Siki Giunta, Executive Vice President of CloudSMART Offerings Strategy at HCLTech, and Sonia Greenberg, Associate Director of Cloud and Managed Services at FactSet, moderated by Finextra Senior Reporter Paige McNamee. Greenberg opened the discussion by emphasizing the difficulties financial organizations encounter in meeting consumer demands for data while managing alternative data within new banking frameworks. She highlighted the pressure to cut costs amid tight profit margins and the struggle to modernize legacy systems.
Giunta noted that digital transformation and cloud migration are interconnected processes, stating, “There is no ‘end state’ to transformation; it’s an ongoing journey.” She described the cloud as a constantly evolving environment, referring to the history of AWS as an example. Maintaining strong relationships with the business and adapting cloud services to enhance value chains are crucial.
Sustainability is another essential consideration for financial institutions undergoing digital modernization. Giunta pointed out the importance of collecting data to better understand digital footprints and cloud implementations. She remarked, “Cloud providers are increasingly focused on transparency, and financial services firms are beginning to grasp their environmental impact.”
Greenberg echoed this sentiment, highlighting how cloud technologies can foster Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives. She encouraged institutions to identify the core problems they aim to solve, asserting that it should spur innovation across organizations, regardless of size.
Giunta stressed the need for a “North Star” to guide agile digital transformation, advocating for initial explorations within sets of applications to identify common patterns that inform cloud service foundations. Greenberg asserted the future lies in a hybrid cloud model, with organizations needing to prepare for a landscape that incorporates both cloud and on-premise solutions.
Regarding talent acquisition during cloud transformation, Giunta stated that younger generations are generally more adept at cloud-native technologies. She emphasized that to build a culture of change, institutions must foster skill development that aligns with the ongoing technological evolution.
The second panel centered on aligning partnerships with cloud strategies while prioritizing security. Experts Stewart Davies, Global SaaS Commercial Director at Temenos, and Andy Sturrock, CTO at Atom Bank, discussed the trust dynamics between financial institutions and cloud providers, moderated by Finextra Reporter Niamh Curran. Davies noted that establishing trust is a gradual process that encompasses various factors, including data storage and regulatory compliance.
Sturrock reiterated that accountability is a shared responsibility, emphasizing the need for a strong partnership between providers and financial institutions to navigate regulatory challenges successfully. The conversation also touched on the importance of balancing security and technology, with Sturrock underscoring that both must integrate seamlessly.
Davies remarked on the necessity of keeping abreast of international regulations and the “high watermark” standard to ensure compliance across borders. Sturrock added that despite the inherent risks of sharing data, Atom Bank employs encryption keys to enhance security and maintain comfort in these partnerships.
Both experts underscored the significance of effective communication and understanding between financial organizations and their cloud partners to innovate and provide customer value. Ultimately, they emphasized the importance of selecting the appropriate cloud solutions for specific workloads, leading to progressive transformations within the banking sector.