Financial services sector needs help with cloud and security

There appears to be an opportunity for those resellers that can support  cloud ambitions and and deliver robust security into the financial services sector.

Customers in that vertical are spending on technology but have revealed in a survey carried out by the Cloud Industry Forum and Aryaka that they are being hampered by a lack of skills and concerns about protecting data.

The survey found that although three quarters of financial services firms have a digital transformation strategy 64% admitted they did not have the skills to carry out a successful implementation.

More than half also revealed that there were security concerns with a feeling that the current levels of protection in the cloud needed to be improved.

Not only did those security concerns mean that there was an unwillingness to expand cloud investments but it also threatened to leave some financial services firms failing to meet their compliance regulations.

Ian McEwan, senior vice president of international sales at Aryaka, said that the timing was right for a solution sale that would help firm move securely into the cloud.

“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," he said.

"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," he added.

Alex Hilton, CEO of the Cloud Industry Forum, echoed that view, pointing out that financal services firms clearly understood the need for digital transformation and the benefits it would bring.

“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," he said.