The dynamics of cloud platform adoption in the sector are changing due to the pandemic, according to one cloud vendor.
Digital transformation in the financial services sector (FSI) hinges heavily on the use of cloud computing—private cloud, hybrid and multi-cloud. However, the past year of pandemic shifts in e-commerce has caused demand for different types of cloud platforms to shift.
For example, while public cloud has the capabilities to support IT infrastructures, the security of sensitive data is becoming more critical than ever due to massive surges in cybercrime, and organizations are looking for alternative solutions such as hyperconverged private-cloud infrastructure.
Also, with growing complexity involved in managing various cloud-platform architectures, FSIs are increasingly looking to optimize usage: they now need to gain greater control of IT resources, and gain higher agility and business resilience with their infrastructure.
Finally, in the hybrid cloud arena, shortages of skilled manpower to manage mixed private/public cloud environments are prompting organizations to invest in training and retaining existing talent, which can in turn affect software development transformations.
Five-year outlook
The aforementioned trends are what one firm’s global Enterprise Cloud Index Report has noted in the past year of pandemic chaos.
Based on respondents from the Americas; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); and the AsiaPacific (APJ) region, the report by Nutanix has offered a five-year outlook where hybrid cloud is the only IT model showing positive growth among FSI respondents, and it is expected to increase by 39% in that timeframe.
In addition, 43% of FSIs have indicated plans to increase their investment in private cloud through 2021, pointing out the trend among the respondents to adopt private cloud for hybrid cloud ecosystems. Historically, such institutions had explored public cloud offerings and decommissioned legacy data centers. However, as data privacy and compliance issues mounted in recent years, FSIs have turned to the private cloud for answers.
Said Ho Chye Soon, Country Manager, Nutanix Singapore: ““Traditional FSIs are now doubling their efforts on enhancing customer experiences, as well as improving operational agility and driving innovation. Cloud computing offers the extra push they need for a true competitive edge. As our report shows, hybrid cloud delivers the benefits and convenience of the public cloud, while offering the security of a private cloud, without compromising efficiency and cost. We can expect hybrid cloud to become the industry norm over the next few years.”
