Are you still listening to music on records, CDs, or MP3 players? Probably not considering the popularity of online music streaming services such as Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube Music. One of these online streaming services has likely replaced your old records, CDs, and MP3 Players. Listening to music online is easier and more flexible because your music is in one place and accessible no matter where you are.
Regardless of which streaming service you subscribe to, they all share a common thread: They store your music online, and storage space will never be an issue. Also, paying a monthly subscription fee is easier and less expensive than buying a new CD every time your favorite artist releases a new album.
With Spotify and the other music streaming services in mind, try and think about the software you use for financial consolidation. Do you use software that is locally installed on a PC? Do you have as easy access to your financial data as you have to your music?
The similarities between streaming services and financial services as well as other cloud technology are much closer than you think. The way you are storing your music is the same way you should be storing your financial software. When you use cloud technology for your financial data, you will gain the same benefits as you enjoy from other cloud-based business applications you already use today like Spotify etc.
Why you need financial cloud solutions?
What are the true advantages of cloud technology? With financial services such as cloud-computing solution, you do not have to buy extra software or products to access new updates; they are instantly deployed to you. Financial services companies do not have to spend money on consultants to customize a program or cloud services for their business because it will all be available to them as part of their monthly subscription.
The Rise of Cloud Adoption in the Financial Services Industry & Within Financial Services Companies
Over recent years, there’s been a significant shift between financial institutions and cloud providers. While traditional financial services companies were initially unsure with cloud technology, they are now among the top industries adopting the best practices of digital transformation.
According to the Culture of Innovation Index, recently released by the global software company ACI Worldwide and Ovum, 92% of financial institutions are either already prioritizing the use of modern tech such as cloud computing or are actually planning to make investments in the future. Why? For a number of major reasons.
First, financial institutions have realised the power cloud providers have when it comes to helping them towards their digital transformation.
With services like cloud computing, businesses can focus on important things such as enhancing customer experience and finding new ways to compete with new ventures.
Second, as the Internet and modern technology expose consumers with real-time customer support, modern consumers are expecting more from financial institutions. This has pressured financial institutions to change adopt new techs such as online data storage and cloud computing.
Lastly, the compliance requirements of the financial sector are changing. The new and revised legal framework has greatly affected communications on both corporate and customer parties. And one of the major updates that have made a significant impact on financial service providers came from the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive or MiFID II.
The latest update prescribes comprehensive and breach-proof documentation as well as archiving of any information that could potentially result in a transaction. So, with a need to comply, organizations now require larger storage capacity and computing power. Within years of offering flexible and cost-efficient solutions, cloud-based technology became a requirement for the sector.
Now that we have established a common ground for talking about cloud technology, we can take a closer look at the top five reasons for financial firms to choose the cloud for data analytics and more.
You gain quick access to your data and great flexibility with cloud computing
With cloud-based software such as cloud computing, you have direct access to your financial data through your web browser. Since financial data is stored remotely, it means financial services companies can access it wherever they are in the world, whenever they want to. All it requires is a connection to the internet. Cloud-based financial software is stored and hosted online, which means it is easier for multiple users to access from multiple devices.
Say, for instance, that your child is sick, you can still work from home and get your financial reporting finished in time.
You are guaranteed the latest software in real-time
Similar to any software update you run on your smartphone or any app that gets updated with new functionality, your financial cloud software and cloud financial close solutions will update automatically. You don’t have to do anything actively to receive application updates. You always have access to the latest upgrades, and new features will be instantly available to you once your software provider releases them.
If your software is locally installed (also known as on-premise software), updating your software is an entirely different story. On-premise software requires local updates and external consultancy. Not only will this add extra charges to the fees you pay for the software, but it will also interrupt your workflow.
When you don’t have to wait for updates to be installed, you can increase your company’s efficiency and productivity.
You reduce costs and get an attractive pricing model
The price model of a cloud solution is often subscription-based, which means financial services companies pay a cost-effectively fixed monthly fee to access the software. As cloud software is standardized, meaning every customer accesses the same piece of software and nothing is customized for individual customers, there is no big upfront investment to build the software for you.
You avoid typical financial services companies’ operational costs such as acquisition, back-up, maintenance, and security measures like firewall systems.
You are guaranteed a high level of security
With software that is not cloud-based, you are responsible for data security, data back-up, and data encryption. It can sound comforting to have full control, but actually, it can be much riskier. As a company in the financial sector, you can only rely on so many employees to take care of server operations.
Moving to the cloud-based software, however, you outsource your IT operations for the specific software to a cloud hosting partner. This leading cloud partner oversees the security of the cloud platform where the software is hosted.
You get a more efficient workflow
Manual, repetitive processes within your workflow become automated with cloud-based software. Workflow automation frees up time for you to focus on the most value-adding tasks, such as data analysis rather than the calculation and maintenance of your spreadsheets.
Data in the cloud can save you time and will make your data center workflow smoother.
For example, services firms can gain access to the software to review the work that has been done and get acquainted with the existing processes. With the help of services like cloud computing, you can easily regulate high amounts of data.
You get the power of infrastructure as a service
Financial cloud technology can offers infrastructure as a service which lessens the costs of deploying, testing as well as running applications on in-house systems. It provides a financial institution with a platform to test out brand new applications as well as projects.
Besides improved security, cloud services provide your business with improved computing and processing capabilities as we’ve discussed earlier. Processes such as data storage and management that use to take hours can now be done within a matter of minutes. With resources like this, business owners can make decisions easier!
Ultimately, the cloud can help the finance industry expand its services further by making innovation accessible to business of all sizes. Regardless of whether your finance enterprise is as large as a trusted bank or not, the cloud offers you several benefits from new systems down to improved data management.
Final words
Switching from non-cloud-based platforms to a cloud-based one will affect your data in a positive way. It will create a more structured and accurate set of data while increasing the flexibility and agility within your workflows. We understand these following needs and at Lumos, we work to ensure you of high-quality cloud solutions.
For more, cloud financial planning and analysis solutions, contact us and let our experts help you with your financial services company today.
