The banking sector is home to a huge volume of consumer data and in a bid to offer the best of the services pertaining to data protection, the sector has to deploy tech-driven innovations. In such a scenario, cloud computing serves as one of the significant and transformative solutions that are ensuring security, agility, and scalability, writes Rashi Aditi Ghosh of Elets News Network (ENN).
Why Cloud Technology is Beneficial for Banking Sector?
Experts across the banking and financial sector believe that strategically implemented cloud computing services assist the banks in optimum utilisation of its resources in a highly flexible and efficient manner with the help of data storage, batch processing, and data analytics. Further, cloud technology facilitates the banking industry in improving revenues, operational efficiency, and the client servicing department.
Talking about the relevance of cloud computing in terms of the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector, T V Ramanmurthy, General Manager – IT, Bank of Maharashtra, said, “Before implementation of cloud computing in the BFSI sector, it is important to accept the relevance of the technology first. In 2017, when BHIM and Unified Payments Interface were implemented National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) took six months to realise the vitality of cloud technology in the implementation of the above-mentioned interfaces.
Explaining about the implementation of cloud services further, Zulkernain Kanjariwala Head – IT, Doha Bank said, “Each and every financial institution in India has its own perception pertaining to leveraging cloud technology in their institution completely. In reference to the current level of digitisation in the country, it is evident to make use of tech-driven initiatives and cloud is definitely going to play a major role in the transformation.”
Benefits of Cloud Technology:
Flexibility
The cloud helps the banking sector in swiftly adapting to frequently modifying consumer demands and market requirements. It offers an additional room for financial institutions in meeting the consumer needs and this flexibility helps banks to streamline the services.
Explaining the vitality of cloud implementation across the banking and financial institutions, Prasanna Lohar, Head-Innovation and Architecture, DCB Bank, said, “Today’s consumers and their needs are hyperactive. It is therefore important for the brands to evolve and shift to cloud in alignment with the consumer’s dynamic requirements. Cloud comes with lots of opportunities that help the brand in offering hyper- personalised services to the customers.
Agility
Cloud-based offerings/ services have a great power to boost the efficiency, agility, and productivity of the banking industry. It assists the banks in reallocating resources and allowing their IT staff to take a leap from the administration of IT infrastructure, enabling them to bring their focus to more innovative tasks. “Cloud Computing is a buzzword in recent times. Organisations and experts are now relating it to the virtualisation of the application, storage, infrastructure, and several other domains. People now perceive that this piece of technology will give rise to a lot of benefits and opportunities,” said Manoj Nayak, Chief Information Security Officer, SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
Auto Scalability
Cloud-based services help the banking and financial institutions in automatically scaling down their resources on the basis of the customer requirements. This helps in lowering down the capacity, redundancy, and resiliency risks that are likely to be associated with traditional technologies.
Operational Efficiency
Cloud technology assists the financial institutions in integrating futuristic technologies and applications in the future that helps in leveling-up the productivity of their operations. Leveraging a data managed centrally by cloud can also help the banks in eliminating complexities pertaining to the changes and increase of data.
“The days of saving the data within the premises have phased out. In today’s world, there are several software available for services. Thinking about cost-effectiveness and ease of operations, organisations are now going for cloud services,” said, Gautam KS, Head, IT, Auxilo Finserve.
Cloud has its own benefits. Apart from being a significantly growing technology it is also a cost efficient option. Mehjabeen Taj Aalam, Head-IT, Muthoot Home Finance, said, “Cloud is going to be one of the fastest growing technologies in terms of banking. Its growth is entirely connected with the benefits it offers. The major advantage that cloud has is its cost efficiency.”
Better Client Servicing
Cloud technology helps the banks in streamlining their products and services. It not only assists the banks in boosting their computing power but also allows them to offering better insights which helps banks for creating customised services for their clients.
“Implementation of cloud technology in financial institution is significant. However, the companies must make sure that the storage of the data is done within the geographical premises of the country. Companies should make sure that all the security parameters are met before putting any new technology in place,” says Vijayakumar Radhakrishnan, Chief Information Security Officer, Mahindra Finance.
While most of the experts opine that the cloud computing technology has the power to ensure transformation across the banking and financial sector, however, it is extremely vital to implement this technology only if helps in streamlining the services for the consumer. Experts across the sector also believe that the cloud-based services should be implemented taking all the safety-related matters in mind and only leading and trusted cloud services providers should be chosen.
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