Financial services organisations’ digital transformation paving way to a smarter, digital future

New research finds financial services organisation are using more cloud-based services than ever before though skills shortages and security concerns are inhibiting progress.

  • 4 years ago Posted in
UK financial services organisations are rapidly embracing new cloud-enabled technologies to transform the ways they operate and serve their customers, although skills shortages, security barriers, and worries about compliance are standing in the way of the digital transformation of the sector. Although 78 per cent of financial services business have a digital transformation strategy, 64 per cent stated that they lack the skills they need for successful implementation. In addition, well over half (58 per cent) agreed that their cloud security posture needed to be improved and a similar proportion (52 per cent) were not confident in their ability to meet their regulatory obligations. These are the key takeaways from a new research report launched today by the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) and Aryaka.

 

The research surveyed 250 IT and business decision-makers at UK-based financial services organisations with 50 or more employees and IT procurement budgets averaging £8 million per year. The research found that in the financial sector the majority are currently laying the foundations for a smarter, safer and hyperconnected future. 96 per cent currently use cloud-based services and the vast majority (87 per cent) expect to increase their usage over the next 12 months. Moreover, within three years, the amount spent on cloud infrastructure (18 per cent) is set to surpass that spent on on-premise (11 per cent) as financial services businesses decommission legacy technologies and embrace new more innovative ways of working.

 

Commenting on the findings, Ian McEwan, senior vice president of international sales at Aryaka, said: “This research demonstrates that now is a crucial time for the UK’s financial services sector to move to the cloud. With cloud spend set to surpass that of on-premise infrastructure in the next three years, how they achieve this is more relevant than ever and it is critical that the move to the cloud does not compromise security, regulatory and compliance requirements. The technology choices and partnerships UK financial services organisations make now will build the foundation for a secure future as they digitally transform and move legacy infrastructure to the cloud.”

 

Aryaka’s global managed SD-WAN service offers enterprises of all types, financial institutions included, the required operational simplicity, application performance optimisation, security, multi-cloud connectivity, and visibility for successful WAN transformation.

 

Alex Hilton, CEO of the Cloud Industry Forum, added: “Financial services are clearly aware of the need for digital transformation, are rightly enthusiastic about the opportunities new digital technologies can deliver, and are using more cloud-based and digital services than ever before. This shift towards placing a greater reliance on trusted third parties is freeing up IT teams to focus on activities that can deliver comprehensive business change. However, it’s important that these changes are underpinned by a rock-solid foundation of security, and that financial services have the right skills and partners in place to support their ongoing transformations – and the research confirms there’s work yet to do on that front.”

 

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