A recent survey indicates that most financial services firms are rapidly increasing their investments in cloud technology.
The report from London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), which surveyed over 450 financial services firms, reveals that 87% of respondents have boosted their cloud spending over the past two years. This shift reflects a growing recognition of cloud technology not just as a cost-cutting measure, but as a means to enhance agility and drive innovation.
The emphasis of this spending is largely on strategic goals such as scalability, revenue growth, and enabling artificial intelligence (AI). Additionally, 82% of firms are now adopting multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud strategies, highlighting a trend toward increased flexibility and risk diversification.
However, the report notes that regulatory challenges remain. Firms must adapt their cloud strategies to comply with the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Stuart Brown, group head of data & feeds at LSEG, stated, “The results of our survey show that adopting cloud is no longer a technology or engineering-led decision; it is a key business imperative. Companies are increasingly deriving significant value from cloud, enhancing operational resilience, and preparing for the next wave of innovation. In the next three years, this innovation will be driven by AI and machine learning, with financial institutions leveraging cloud for fraud detection, risk management, data analytics, and generative AI.”
Several banks have announced significant cloud partnerships over the last two years, and LSEG has also engaged in noteworthy collaborations to expand its cloud capabilities, including extending its multi-year cloud partnership with AWS in April.