The cloud can help make bank CX dreams a reality

A cloud migration is a big deal. Any organization considering one has a lot to contend with, including determining budget and scope, getting past hesitation about unknowns, and generals fears about the upcoming process. Sprinkle in the fact that a cloud migration is only part of a broader strategy for enhanced customer experience, and you’ve got the makings of a lot of knocked over and moved goalposts. So, what can you do to approach your cloud evolution with gusto, positivity and a foolproof plan?

First, let’s look at some of the reasons why an organization might be hesitant to take on a cloud migration.

Compliance: Compliance informs everything a financial institution does — and for good reason. When it comes to a cloud migration, financial institutions are often a little leery because they’re not sure how it can fit into their rules and regulations. There’s also the question of how secure the cloud is, particularly in the case of private versus public cloud, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau attestations, and the multi-tenant nature of some cloud offerings.

Consolidations and acquisitions: When financial services companies buy a company or acquire another bank, the people, processes and technology set that are part of the transaction are often significantly different. The key question is, “How do you incorporate those acquisitions while maintaining the uniqueness of what you purchased?” There’s uncertainty all around, from an environment they’re not sure they can control, to worries about not having a way to run the optimization framework to bring everything together in those cases.

Scale: Many financial institutions operate at a scale that is unfathomable to the small-business mindset that is common for Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) applications. There are questions about taking 10,000 agents and running a million transactions an hour with 600,000 customers all through 11 different processes. With so many transactions happening at such a large scale, it’s easy to understand concerns around keeping these transactions in compliance.

When addressing these common fears, encouraging words can put financial institutions at ease: a private cloud is still the cloud.

The benefit in going from on-premise to cloud doesn’t have to be a binary decision. You’re going from having to run an infrastructure and physical location to something that’s in the ether that you don’t have to run. Banks and credit unions can make their cloud solution a single tenant, dedicate it to that organization, bring the bank or credit union in, and let them be part of the security protocols.

The most important piece of advice for financial institutions looking to implement a cloud migration? Connect the need for a cloud migration to your overall digital transformation strategy. The first step is the move to the cloud because then you have access to chat and social media, and the ability to aggregate all that data. Artificial intelligence can be used to inform decisions around customers and personalize their experience with your organization.

You can also improve your workforce flexibility. Being in a cloud-enabled environment allows financial institutions to be a lot more flexible with their workforce, so they can work remotely. Banks and credit unions now can hire outside the traditional aggregated geographic areas since they’re no longer limited by geographic location.

Financial institutions considering a cloud migration should know that potential partners realize that deciding on a cloud migration is a big decision. Outside partners should set customers up with a cloud migration solution that can grow and improve with them. It is vital to assess the needs of institutions on a customized basis, help them enhance what they already have, and evaluate where speed bumps may be.

Ray Barata is senior principal and strategic solutions advisor at TTEC Digital.