Cloud computing is a platform that’s being leveraged by every kind of business, but certain industries are slower to warm to it than others. Banking, which is characterized by a need for top-tier enterprise security, is one sector where high security needs create a strong sense of trepidation when it comes to migrating to virtualized business platforms.

“Banks may be slow to migrate to the cloud, but they benefit from it in huge ways.”

The debate around enterprise cloud computing is hardly unique to banking. From real estate and education to insurance providers and oil/gas companies, there are conversations in IT boardrooms about the relative risks and rewards of migrating to a virtualized infrastructure, where the prospect of lower costs and increased efficiency clash with the perceived heightened vulnerability of cloud platforms. But if banks conduct a cloud migration in a strategic way, they won’t need to be concerned about increased susceptibility to attack, and can instead enjoy a higher standard of security. Here are three key ways financial institutions benefit from a cloud move:

    1. Consolidated IT costs give cloud-based banks the competitive advantage: 

As longtime banking industry expert Ian Masters pointed out in a piece for InformationWeek Bank Systems & Technology, financial organizations that migrate to the cloud experience key consolidation of IT expenditures, which is a central factor that’s catalyzing cloud moves for the majority of banks across the globe by next year. Because so many financial enterprises are choosing the cost-cutting IT solution that virtual infrastructure provides, those banks that continue to rely on legacy solutions will be placing themselves at a distinct competitive disadvantage in an industry where staying ahead of the tech curve is vital.

    1. The cloud is more secure than legacy platforms: 

The common perception of the cloud is that it’s inherently vulnerable. But if financial organizations choose the right cloud deployment, they can actually experience a higher level of security than they would via legacy solutions. Cloud platforms like Entrust Cloud offers banks virtualized solutions that integrate an array of security-driving technologies like SSL management, credentialing services and public key infrastructure.

    1. Cloud paves the way for better leveraging of mobility: 

The financial sector is no exception to the industry-spanning mobility push. With banking patrons and workers counting on financial institutions providing mobile solutions, it’s up to enterprise leaders to implement them securely. By harnessing cloud-based solutions like those offered by Entrust, businesses immediately benefit from the tools needed to protect mobility, which is the key step to ensuring that mobile solutions become a safe fixture of daily banking. Thanks to resources like Entrust IdentityGuard, banks can make sure that mobile identities and devices are secure through the implementation of mobile device certificates via the cloud.

Entrust Datacard is a leading provider of cloud security solutions, and the robust nature of our offerings make us an ideal partner for enterprises with high security needs, like financial organizations.

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