• Matt Gibson, Regional Sales Director at Gigamon


• 24.09.2021 10:15 am
#IT #infrastructure #Security

It is no surprise that the pandemic heightened the need for the financial services industry to undergo rapid and dramatic digital transformation. Yet the IT landscape for financial firms has been transforming over the last 20 years; 80% of the UK population use online banking and FinTechs have created new digital ways of accessing and delivering financial services from payments right through to investments. Having made some good progress, it is essential financial organisations continue to modernise processes, as the traditional set-up of silos and legacy IT will not help firms to adapt to our new hybrid ways of working.

A vast majority of the financial services industry has already adopted the cloud, while 88% of businesses without a multi-cloud strategy are considering implementing one in the next 12 months. With customers’ ever-evolving digital expectations, a sharp rise in cyberthreats and the rising competition within the FinTech industry, it is more important than ever that organisations prioritise adopting cloud-based strategies and have full network visibility to do so. Improving observability will greatly simplify the cloud migration process and help to address the digital challenges faced by the industry, as organisations focus on building resilience to drive business performance and success. 

The security consideration

With rising digitisation, the cyberthreat to financial services has only increased. Just looking at the start of the pandemic alone, the number of cyber-attacks within the sector rose by over 200%. With such critical data to protect, the financial industry must not rest on its laurels and firms should continue to regularly test the security of their IT infrastructure and processes. Fortunately, Deloitte predicted that this sector will see a 64% increase in cybersecurity investment across 2021, but rather than buying a whole host of multiple different point solutions, organisations should ensure that the right diligence is carried out and tools and technology deployed to not only help resolve the security challenge, but drive continuous ROI and growth. 

Cloud can be safer than on-premises tools when consistent and unwavering visibility is considered, and it is vital for businesses to implement a security strategy that functions not only in an ever-evolving environment, but is also able to protect millions of users across multiple platforms. Having a clear view of all data in motion on the network is crucial to ensuring applications, traffic and users are all being monitored effectively, which will enable security teams to better prepare for a cyberattack. With full network and cloud visibility, SecOps teams are able to respond to data breaches proactively rather than reactively, which could be the difference between a minor threat and a devastating incident. 

Adopting a Zero Trust framework is key for financial services firms, and again network visibility is integral to this approach. Zero Trust is a concept built on removing implicit trust, even to internal members of an organisation. Introducing this architecture is beneficial for businesses, such as banks, who store and monitor sensitive customer data. By adopting a Zero Trust framework, network infrastructure will automatically become more secure and a security-first mindset will be easier to disseminate throughout the company. However, to be effective, visibility and the opportunity to monitor all traffic is key. Without it, reaching the conclusion whether to refuse or grant the individual access becomes a challenge and workforce productivity inevitably drops. 

Optimising customer experience 

Cloud migration and network optimisation become more of a challenge for NetOps teams working without a clear view into traffic, therefore leading to a rise in application performance problems. Closing the ‘visibility gap’ allows tools to filter out low risk or duplicate data, freeing up bandwidth to improve digital services. However, if the lack of visibility is left unmanaged and negatively impacting the user experience, revenue will decline and greater pressure is put on IT professionals who will be left with an overly-complex and expensive network to manage. If banks are not delivering an enhanced and quick digital customer experience, they are likely to lose customers, and with younger generations citing digital as an important factor in their financial service provider decision, they will struggle to attract new customers without investing in network optimisation. 

Balancing efficiency with budget 

Many financial services firms still operate with legacy technology and are reliant on systems of record. For example, a recent study found that 68% of insurance organisations name legacy systems as the biggest hurdle to digital transformation. This hurdle can be overcome by monitoring all systems and devices through one ‘single pane of glass’ and gaining a central view over all IT environments from on-premises to the cloud. Full visibility is also invaluable when looking to optimise network tools – especially important as businesses have continued to grow and innovate with a reduced budget in recent months. For a business leader throughout the pandemic, it has been vital to weigh up technical priorities with budget constraints. By investing in digital capabilities and optimising current tooling, organisations are able to increase ROI and network efficiency, which will ultimately drive additional value and better service for customers. Investment is key, but it must be in solutions that drive business profitability and enhance digital capabilities.

As the financial services industry continues to embrace digital transformation, organisations must not forget the importance of network visibility and the endless benefits it provides. Not only does cybersecurity posture significantly improve, but IT tools and teams are optimised and productivity increases, in turn propelling ROI. As we adapt to the post-pandemic landscape, financial services must continue to integrate new digital banking solutions to stay competitive. However, for businesses to succeed and mitigate risk, it is fundamental they invest in gaining a full and singular view into their entire IT infrastructure and the critical data within it.