The so-called “Cloud” is increasingly becoming the channel for creating financial value. Digital, in its most dynamic and innovative applications, is becoming the virtual interlocutor for new financial services and cloud technologies are the key players in this revolution.
According to experts, through the Cloud financial institutions will benefit from many strategic advantages such as on-demand scalability, the ability to accelerate the implementation of new functionalities, the ability to innovate to increase operational efficiency and cyber resilience.
CLOUD INVESTMENTS
Among the players aiming to compete in this market are web giants such as Google, whose suite of cloud computing services, Google Cloud, is dictating the new rules of the market, also thanks to the support of international banking institutions and industry players who have decided to rely on the Californian company for their entry into digital finance.
Google Cloud offers a wide range of solutions for financial services, such as banks and insurance companies, ranging from products to enhance open banking, artificial intelligence applied to data management, and online security tools.
What is clear is how the cloud is reshaping previous business models, offering financial institutions new segments for investment and competitive growth that are, in effect, creating a new economy in a shared ecosystem. By leveraging cloud technology, banks and insurers will have the same ability, currently reserved for mobile devices, to offer innovative and relevant services that are also attractive, immediate and easy to understand, offering users real-time services.
THE CLOUD MARKET
According to Eurostat data, 41% of European companies used cloud services in 2021. Sweden and Finland lead with 75%, followed by the Netherlands and Denmark with 65% and then Italy with 60%.
Cloud services are, by their very nature, used more by medium and large companies. In fact, many use a wide range of cloud services on a daily basis: in 2021, 79% of European companies used mainly email services, 66% file storage services, 61% office softwares such as spreadsheets or word processing.
Returning to the use of cloud technologies in the financial sector, the phenomenon of banks and business companies outsourcing this type of service to external providers is booming, especially in the modernisation of older data centres. Investment in the cloud, experts point out, is showing its benefits. Thanks to the cloud infrastructure, companies in the financial sector can derive value from the mobility of applications and gain greater control over their spending, with the certainty of data management security for their users.