Most financial institutions migrating their applications to the cloud are opting for a multicloud strategy as they prioritize resiliency, security and competition.  

Experts from Citi, Google Cloud and Cockroach Labs agree that the cloud allows financial institutions to boost efficiency and scalability while multicloud efforts further boost flexibility.  

“The idea that you’re going to get everybody’s data and everybody’s apps into one nice little place is farfetched,” Zac Maufe, managing director of global regulated industries at Google Cloud, said today during the webinar “Best practices in cloud migration for financial services” hosted by Bank Automation News today. That’s where a multicloud strategy comes into play. 

Google Cloud supports an “open, flexible cloud” and works with clients that have multicloud partnerships, Maufe said, noting, that allows the cloud provider to work with data and applications no matter where they are stored. 

Watch the cloud migration webinar here 

Why specifically are FIs going with a multicloud strategy?  

1. Competition 

One reason is competition. Citi taps Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud for cloud service, Dmitri Furman, global head of public cloud at the $2.4 trillion bank, said during the webinar. Using multiple cloud providers allows the bank to tap into each of the vendors’ strengths, he said. 

“We have evidence that both partners really significantly elevated their game when we introduced the second partner into the ecosystem,” Furman said. “It’s been beneficial for all parties involved.” 

2. Security 

Another factor is security. FIs are looking to multicloud strategies to support business continuity measures in the event of a third-party failure or the failure of one cloud vendor, Spencer Kimball, CEO at New York-based fintech Cockroach Labs, said during the webinar.  

Institutions can run one application across multiple clouds knowing that if one cloud goes down, operations can still continue, Kimball said. 

Business continuity and recovery plans are imperative in today’s environment evidenced by tech vendor FIS’ Jan. 15 outage which affected thousands of Capital One clients. 

3. Risk 

A third reason for FIs to move to multicloud operations is to mitigate risk. Google Cloud works with its bank clients to ensure strong governance is in place, Maufe said. Strong governance includes having access to cloud controls and encryption keys through the cloud providers.  

“There’s a lot of controls that the cloud enables that are very hard to [do] in an on-prem environment,” he said.  

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