More than half of the top 100 banking firms have adopted a cloud-based collaboration solution, according to a new report from the Enterprise Irregularity and Cloud Computing 2016, which found the spread of mobile devices was further inspiring organisations to replace static desktop tools with easily adapted cloud solutions.
One in four finance professionals surveyed have already moved to private cloud deployments and while 64% have not, 23% said they are currently evaluating cloud solutions, indicating a huge appetite for the new wave of cloud solutions.
The report stated: “The impending availability of Enterprise Cloud solutions and increased flexibility of mobile devices have provided organisations the opportunity to get more out of the ‘online’ experience of their front-end businesses.”
The move to the cloud is likely to accelerate further over the next five years with the proportion of finance professionals looking for public cloud services rising to 56% by 2021, while more than 90% of organisations are expected to move to private cloud over the same period.
What is the trend?
The survey also found that many finance professionals see the rapid spread of financial technology startups, such as crowdfunding, as having generated a positive impression of the sector.
In addition, the wide availability of smartphones and tablet devices across much of the world also has made the move to the cloud and more nimble workforce models more viable.
However, as a result of some trends, these trends will also cause some inherent problems for organisations, particularly within large financial institutions that lack the natural agility and flexibility that smaller startups like Square or Stripe have developed.
This is where cloud adoption becomes problematic. It is reported that cloud providers and enterprise level collaboration apps are likely to lose approximately 5% of their user base due to security concerns. However, security is not the only factor that hinders cloud adoption. The difficult process of setting up and delivering a new system adds to the difficulties.
“Organisations are struggling to make the leap from premise-based systems to the cloud, but as market leaders embrace cloud solutions for all of their business units, there is an opportunity for us to help drive maturity in the banking sector by adding a cloud-centric architect to our service offering.”
The architect will look for a common approach to all cloud implementations, develop a documented approach to cloud planning, and develop an end-to-end security policy.
Emerging threats
Moving cloud-based solutions from concept to deployment has become more complicated as the threat landscape has broadened. Security concerns are also affecting the migration process, as cloud providers do not have the same control and knowledge as traditional IT experts.
“The uptake of these solutions is being fuelled by clients’ impatience to shift their computing infrastructure to a private cloud. The growth in competition in the banking sector has made most clients aware of the benefits of having a larger and flexible workforce. However, with this comes the concern of governance as well as compliance challenges that prove more costly and time consuming.”
He added: “When organisations are considering moving to the cloud, due consideration should be given to the security and compliance aspects. The Cloud Security Alliance provides an excellent framework for members to use to ensure that security and compliance requirements are met before moving to the cloud.”
* I, a: Emerzration; Emerzion: Evolution; & Emerzion: Ecosystem; Ecosystem: Existence & Existence II
Harley Duncan, Chief Strategy Officer, Emerzion & Emerzion Intelligence Systems and Operation Centre