Businesses and institutions of all sizes are switching their digital infrastructure and data processing to cloud solutions. But as Tom Groenfeldt reports for Forbes, major banks may be the next big industry to move to the cloud.
According to the Boston-based research group Aité, their recent survey of 29 senior technology executives at financial institutions in the United States suggests that the timing of this shift is aligned with the implementation of cost-saving measures and prioritization of regulatory compliance.
Private cloud solutions are of interest to these banks, as they’d be storing sensitive data. Public clouds would handle other, less-vital information. More commonly, banks are mixing the two philosophies and implementing a hybrid cloud solution.
Because they increasingly must support multiples lines of business and increasing compliance regulations, banks and their employees are subject to an extensive and intricate environment of people, processes, and technology. And when major data processing is needed for testing, applications, and development, cloud solutions are able to ramp up computer resource usage on demand and only pay for what it uses.
Bank of India recently implemented a SharePoint solution to automate their loan and application deposit process in over 4,100 branches and its 50 offices across the country. By doing so, they’ve reduced their application turn-around time by 50% and have improved customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
These advantages make SharePoint appealing to large institutions, but it’s scalable to small and medium-sized businesses as well. Keeping information on a closed network and private to only you, your employees, clients, and partners is a valuable solution to project management needs.
It’s also agile, allowing a high level of customization and scalability. Many companies use SharePoint on a measured scale and mixing with legacy systems that handle other operations.
SharePoint is simple enough for project managers to supervise and implement new tasks, information, and platform changes with minimal or no IT supervision or authorization. It’s likely your IT department will meet this with some resistance, as the same level of control isn’t offered, but the technical requirements on them will be decreased and allow them to focus on other issues within your organization.
So what are some of the benefits of switching to a cloud-based information intranet using SharePoint and Office 365?
- It provides employees with easy access to the Office 365 suite, forms, and contact info.
- Reduces complexity and approval workflow processes.
- Offers online training and support built-in.
- Allows easy access to group/work teams and projects.
- Establishes a clear and clean information delivery system for administrators and supervisors.
- Provides an avenue for creating and deploying information and applications.
- Easily searchable.
- Integration with Office 365 mobile editions.
- Multilingual support for over 40 major languages.