Metro Bank moves IT infrastructure to cloud

Metro Bank has put its IT infrastructure into a managed Rackspace cloud and has cut the time it takes to complete its end of day processes by half.

The bank, which was the first new bank in more than 100 years when it was launched in 2010, has also increased the production of reports.

Metro Bank is using DevOps to help it quickly create more services in a controlled environment as it moves towards automated management. The Rackspace infrastructure includes disaster recovery capabilities.

Metro Bank currently has 45 retail branches and plans to increase this to 100 by 2020. To support its growth, the bank decided to migrate its IT infrastructure, including its core banking systems and digital services. An initial 12-month migration project was delivered on time and to budget, without any downtime.

Aisling Kane, COO at Metro Bank, said it needed a supplier that could expand its service when required. “We’re growing exponentially, so it’s essential that we partner with organisations that can scale alongside us, which Rackspace has clearly shown it can,” he said.

Banks are built on massive IT infrastructures that process huge volumes of data on a daily basis. The cloud’s most obvious benefits will enable banks to keep up with technology changes while reducing costs.

Darren Norfolk, managing director of Rackspace UK, said cloud computing helps banks provide customers with real-time services that are always on.

“Finance companies have to focus on connecting people to their money quickly, processing transactions accurately and presenting customers with access to their information at all times,” he said.

When Metro Bank launched in 2010, it outsourced all its IT to avoid being tied in with legacy systems, which are often blamed for traditional high street banks being slow to take on the latest technologies.