In some form or another, most employees who are used to working in offices found themselves working from home for a period during the last eighteen months. Even before the pandemic, many more people were working from home than ever before. Employers had already identified the benefits that home-working can bring to their businesses and employees. The point is, even though for many it was not a choice, to begin with, working from home opened new ways for an office environment to thrive. Throughout the pandemic, offices utilised technology to create a new and flexible relationship between work and home.
The challenges we have faced have also meant that companies have had to unexpectedly accelerate on their road towards digital transformation. In short, this transformation is the process of using digital technologies to radically rethink or improve the culture and processes of your business, as well as adapting customer experiences to the changing requirements of the day. This is not simply a case of necessary modification. Instead, this is a fundamental reimagining of what business means in the digital age and one that should not be neglected now that many of us are able to safely return to the office.
Transformation of Financial Services
Financial services technology is an industry at the centre of this transformation. The challenges that the sector faces ahead are significant: Financial departments must rapidly modernise their technology function to support expanded digitization in all areas of their businesses. Furthermore, the increase in remote working and new cyber-security threats are putting immense pressure on technology capabilities. Most businesses are already aware that this will necessitate further acceleration in the shift to digital channels and demand an investment of funding, resources, and talent. Digital transformation is not only an important modernising step but also a launchpad for increasing innovation and productivity.
A Multi-Part Process
However, this change is continuous and must be maintained. It isn’t enough to make just one meaningful change. Instead, the transformation must be treated as ongoing and wide-reaching to every aspect of a financial department’s operations. This can appear daunting at first and, even if they understand the importance of the process, many businesses are yet to fully commit to making the necessary changes. As of May 2021, only 16% of financial institution workloads have been transferred to the cloud. Furthermore, although 87% of senior business leaders say digitalisation is a priority, only 40% of organisations have brought digital initiatives to scale.
Moving applications to the cloud is the initial step. This process includes refining and redesigning the development process and applications so that they are sufficiently flexible, as well as making sure that the culture of the company remains committed to maintaining its focus of clients, even in a time of transition. Building the necessary controls to do this securely also remains a challenge. Many financial departments have found it difficult to securely deploy highly sensitive data to the cloud. As this process uses a large amount of an application’s processing power, the value created during that transition remains limited.
Financial Cyber-Security
While there persists the concern that moving data to the cloud leaves organisations open to cyber threats, legacy systems using older software can end up being more vulnerable. When handling such sensitive data, it is crucial for financial departments to exceed security control requirements, but also to know that it is extremely possible for your organisation to do so. There are highly advanced encryption solutions to secure data on the cloud that negate the need for paperwork or in-person visits. Its value cannot be overstated. This ever-improving technology available can make your digital transformation’s security unparalleled, but also adaptable.
Added Value
Using a cloud built for financial services to streamline your company’s transition will, not only increase operational efficiency but can free up resources that can be deployed to improve services and products with much-reduced waste. Consumers’ confidence in the safety of cloud-based services will increase, leading to greater innovation, heightened security, and improved services. The benefits of adopting advanced technology are compelling. Revenue growth initiatives have generated 41% of the value of a digital transformation in businesses that fully commit. The speed of digital innovation means the responsibility is on businesses’ financial departments to respond to a new and changing marketplace.
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