Journey to the Cloud: Q&A with business innovators igniting transformation
Gartner* predicts SaaS spending to increase almost 18% in 2023 to $208.1 billion. But what’s driving the journey to SaaS and Cloud? And how are banks and providers globally approaching these challenges?
In a recent panel, President of International Sales at Temenos, Jean-Paul Mergeai, spoke to innovators from EQ Bank and JPMorgan Chase about their journey to the Cloud, and Microsoft about their experience as a Cloud provider supporting banks of all sizes. Discover the intriguing Q&A and future predictions of the power of SaaS.
Question: What’s driving the adoption of Cloud and SaaS across banking? How do you see its impact on the future?
Answer: Robert Greig, Executive Director, JPMorgan Chase
Bank stakeholders need faster delivery from their technology organization. Public Cloud focuses on innovation and reduces time to market, but this shift needs continuous updates, requiring an organizational approach. Public Cloud supports transformational change, enabling technology teams to leverage services like data lakes, machine learning platforms, and scale on demand, requiring Cloud providers to manage services reliably.
As an organization, we’re just starting our Cloud journey. Public Cloud and technology impacts I.T. and business teams, blurring boundaries between infrastructure, application development, and engineering. Development teams now automate the provisioning of computers and software testing. Public Cloud adoption is not another technology initiative, it’s a business transformation that alters how organizations deliver technology solutions to customers, regardless of size.
Answer: Dan Broten, Chief Technology Officer, EQ Bank
A key driver is innovation. Experimentation, fast learning, and learning quickly from small problems are crucial for success in releasing new products. Rapid iteration, real-time feedback, and zero downtime through Cloud-based automation improve the release of software and customer experience.
Question: What’s your experience migrating from an on-premise core banking implementation to a full SaaS solution?
Answer: EQ Bank
In 2013-14, we launched our digital bank on-premise, focusing on testing, learning, and market launches. Challenges included data center scalability and resiliency. A microservice API platform was created, allowing flexibility for upgrades and Cloud migration.
EQ Bank has ramped up to 40 releases in each month in seven years, demonstrating rapid iteration, real-time feedback, and zero downtime through Cloud-based automation. Iteration is crucial for successful Cloud journeys, and collaboration with regulators is essential.
Answer: JPMorgan Chase
The program involved vendor partners, JPMorgan technologists, and business stakeholders. We were looking for partners that responded positively to feedback and problems, a vendor for business growth and technology platform development.
Question: What lessons can Microsoft share about driving the greatest value and moving an organization successfully down the Cloud path?
Answer: Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Financial Services, Microsoft
We speak from our own internal experience of moving to the Cloud. Microsoft transitioned from a licensing model to a SaaS model, involving top-down senior-level support and business decision-makers. Azure was built to support the transition, and infrastructure work was done to combat Windows-based products’ inertia.
We’ve also looked at how we use Cloud throughout our business. Finance and Treasury organizations underwent modernization, leveraging machine learning and Cloud for product delivery and partner collaboration. Microsoft works with Temenos focusing on engineering teams, cultures, and proactive solutions to bring value to partners.
Collaboration with Temenos on Azure began 13 years ago to provide solutions for microfinance institutions, focusing on inclusive banking. Today, banks worldwide are adopting Cloud technology, focusing on providing the best information for customers. Microsoft’s advice:
Before, the industry was crawling toward the Cloud, and it wasn’t a journey. The project has evolved into a fundamental strategy for competitiveness. The company aims to make its Cloud more consumable, allowing customers to leverage its scale, data, and security compliance control tools. To maximize daily investment, we collaborate with partners like Temenos, leveraging their composable thought-process model to enhance capabilities and provide value to customers.”
Bill Borden, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Financial Services, Microsoft
Question: Summarize the biggest benefit of adopting a Cloud approach.
Answer: Microsoft
Public Cloud enables companies to create value at scale in a secure, compliant environment, enabling billion-dollar industries to start with small staff and innovate, impacting daily competition.
Answer: EQ Bank
What you get on the platform of a public Cloud is something you could never achieve on your own. You’re inheriting all the R&D and efforts of Microsoft to try and achieve your ambitions as a company.
Answer: EQ Bank
What you get on the platform of a public Cloud is something you could never achieve on your own. You’re inheriting all the R&D and efforts of Microsoft to try and achieve your ambitions as a company.
Answer: JPMorgan Chase
Public cloud is a great enabler of innovation, allowing all organizations, large and small to take advantage of resilient, powerful, and scalable technologies – truly standing on the shoulders of giants.
SaaS and Cloud benefits drive exceptional outcomes
To succeed in Cloud and SaaS, Robert Greig, JPMorgan Chase stated, “Service providers must be bold and adapt to the complex landscape. To maximize client benefits, provide services, and engineering to leverage them, resulting in better outcomes.” SaaS and Cloud offer: accessibility, compatibility, operational management and scalability.
- Accessibility
- Compatibility
- Operational management
- Scalability
Cloud adoption benefits industry leaders by promoting innovation, competition, and user empowerment, enabling businesses to prosper and establish a strong technical position.