Successful Cloud Strategies for Financial Services
In the periods when data was carried by folders or floppy disks, it was taking a considerable time for the data to reach the other channel. For this reason, users were very patient about speed and mobility. Moreover, the software and physical mechanisms, in which this transported data was stored, properly processed, and presented to users, were also quite primitive. Therefore, the expectations of functionality were pushed to the background for compelling reasons.
Over time, many more innovative solutions have been developed for data transmission and storage. With the Internet becoming the norm in every person’s life, it has become impossible for most mechanisms to survive with offline methods.
For this reason, digital solutions have started to become dominant in all areas of life. In the past, it was necessary to spend a lot of time and go to a bank branch to perform the smallest transaction. Today, however, it is possible to come across even fully digital banks that do not have any branches.
User habits have changed dramatically as technology advances and digitalization has become a necessary process for every industry. Today, customers do not even want to spend minutes on transactions that took days in the recent past. Of course, not only customers but also organizations are changing their habits.
Many important financial organizations are making significant investments to adapt the most modern financial solutions inside their bodies. Digital banking and omnichannel investment solutions offered by Foreks Digital enable banks and financial organizations to provide the most innovative digital finance solutions for them to foresee digital banking future trends and meet users’ expectations.
However, the deep-rooted habits of some sectors make it difficult to prepare for the world of the future. The financial sector is also one of the sectors with established and hard-to-change practices, and it is very difficult to adopt cutting-edge technologies in such areas.
The next link in this advancing line of technological advancement is cloud computing technology. This technology provides huge advantages to users and organizations in terms of data storage, transmission, and functionality.
This technology has the potential to completely change usage habits. And it is taking up a larger area of all sectors. Most companies that have prioritized the technological revolution in their field are trying to adapt this technology to the sector.
In this article, we will talk about what cloud computing technology is and what strategies can be used to adapt this technology to a field such as finance.
What Is Cloud Computing Technology?
Cloud computing is a technology that allows IT services, such as servers, software, and analytics, to be accessed and shared over the internet at any time. Thanks to cloud computing technology, companies do not have to physically maintain information structures within their bodies. Instead, they use providers’ data centers.
Users, on the other hand, have the opportunity to use much more accessible and functional services. Thus, their customer experience rises to the next level.
There are three basic types of cloud computing:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
IAAS is a cloud computing type that provides the essential elements of cloud IT-like network features, computers, and data storage. IAAS offers maximum control over your IT resources, but also allows you to act in a much more flexible structure.
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
PaaS providers maintain the software or hardware required for users to manage or create their applications, eliminating the physical need for that software or hardware.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Saas allows you to have fully functional products offered by the service provider. This eliminates storage and hardware needs to allow users to use their data and software from anywhere and in any condition.
Cloud computing services offered by providers such as Amazon AWS, the technology partner of Foreks Digital, bring great benefits in the fields of cost reduction, enhanced data security, synchronization, feasibility and flexibility, sustainability, regulatory, and compliance. For this reason, both the usage area of cloud computing and the sectors using it are expanding day by day.
Adapting Cloud Computing to Finance
Finance is a field whose strategic map is constantly changing in line with customer expectations. Since cloud computing technology offers the potential to completely change customer habits, it is not possible to position finance as a separate point from cloud technology.
However, it is difficult to realize structural revolutions in an area with deep-rooted practices such as finance. The reasons, such as the restrictions on the sector by the laws and regulations that have not changed for years in these areas and the security concerns, are also slowing the process of the financial sector’s full adoption of cloud computing technology.
Security concerns are natural reactions as cloud computing is an emerging technology, but cloud service providers are improving their security and compliance policies with each passing day. As a result, using cloud computing most of the time makes you more secure.
Of course, financial concerns also change the perspective on cloud technology. However, the cost created by the transition to the cloud system is much less than the long-term financial burden of a physical computing structure.
Companies that have made fintech innovations their top priority, such as Foreks Digital, continue their mission of contributing to the acceleration of the cloud revolution in finance. By establishing a strategic partnership with AWS, Foreks Digital uses cloud computing technology to deliver financial historical market data to its customers in milliseconds and brings a new perspective to the world of finance.
Cloud Strategies for Financial Services
Financial institutions will eventually start using cloud technology considering its numerous advantages. But if not done with the right strategy and preparation, cloud migration can turn into a failed attempt. Here are some successful strategy steps that can be taken to envision the future through the eyes of the present and make this transition seamless:
Strategic Planning and Consensus
Collaboration of all teams is essential when migrating to cloud services. Because the process has the potential to more or less change the structure of each department. During the transition period, additional financial resource needs may arise or the functioning of departments may change for a short time.
Before migrating to cloud services, it is critical to get the approval of all teams and create a common strategy. This will help ensure coordinated and efficient action.
Reviewing the Organization’s Technological Infrastructure
It is quite risky to take steps without being completely sure that the technological infrastructure of the organization will work in harmony with cloud technology.
Migrating to cloud technology may require saying goodbye to many of the technological services you are already familiar with. For this reason, even if you do not plan to switch to cloud computing yet, choosing a significant part of your technological infrastructure from products that can be easily adapted to cloud technology can make your work easier in the future.
For example, in cloud technology, standard server/client architectures are insufficient to provide inter-service communication, as applications are separated into independent blocks. For this reason, using Pub/Sub architecture, which allows you to collect only the “exactly needed” data and then automatically be notified when the same type of data is updated, increases efficiency tremendously.
For this reason, in the migration process to cloud technology, reviewing technological infrastructure services, such as Foreks’ distributed, scalable, horizontally expandable and hybrid Pub/Sub architecture, allows you to continue your operations uninterrupted after the transition.
Taking Slow But Effective Steps
Migrating all services and applications to cloud computing can pose a risk. The challenges and areas for improvement that each company and service will face during the transition are unique. For this reason, you should not rush to move to the cloud but first try mitigating predetermined pilot services to the cloud environment. Once the transition is perfected for these pilot services, the same procedures should be performed for the next services.
Choosing the Right Service Provider
Not every cloud vendor is ideal for your organization and service. For this reason, cloud migration should not be built dependent on a single vendor. While you can determine the right vendor with trials during the cloud transformation process, you can even work with more than one vendor if you have systematic department structures.
Taking Measures for Security and Compliance
By taking additional precautions for security and compliance, you can ensure that you will not suffer until you have a fully established cloud setup. To achieve this, you can get legal and regulatory advice and improve your cyber security posture.
The healthy progress of the development of cloud technology depends on trust in this technology. That’s why cloud technology leaders are working day and night to make their services more secure and compliant. However, it is still useful to take precautions.
Carrying FinTech Into the Future
As Foreks, since the day we were founded, we have adopted the principle of being an actor in technological revolutions while building the future of Fintech. For this reason, we continue to equip the technological infrastructure of Foreks Digital’s omnichannel investment solutions with the most up-to-date technologies to meet the requirements of the modern FinTech ecosystem.
With 30+ years of financial industry experience and our dedicated team of experts, we help institutions go beyond common financial solutions and deliver ultimate value with innovative technology. Act now to join the FinTech revolution.