Advancing the financial sector with the cloud
The conversations of financial institutions worldwide are shifting. It’s no longer a matter of if they’re going to move to the cloud, it’s how. They’re learning that the key to getting ahead is being able to combine innovative technology with business, and many are using the power of Microsoft Office 365 to do so. Here are four strategic areas of the financial service sector currently being impacted by the power of Office 365.
The Customer/Employee Experience
Financial institutions need tools to track, manage, and engage with customers, and cloud solutions have increasingly been simplifying these tasks. One such cloud-based tool is Microsoft Dynamics 365, a CRM that offers limitless possibilities for employees in the financial sector. This tool gives employees in banks and financial institutions the ability to manage customer transaction data, develop useful analytics and develop broad programs that can allow customers feel more connected, and more enthusiastic about the bank’s services.
The adoption of cloud services has been increasing across the globe since its popularization in the mid 2000’s. Recently, a financial institution in New Zealand made the decision to adopt a customer centric business strategy. To achieve this, they chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 to streamline, replace and automate their sales, marketing and customer services processes. With their previous on-premise solutions, the company had trouble to continue tracking existing customers who moved from one channel within the bank to the other. These customers sometimes went through a duplicate process which made it not only challenging for the bank but also the customer. With Microsoft dynamics 365, the bank now follows a more consistent approach to customer onboarding without having to duplicate data multiple times into multiple systems.
Analysis and Intelligence
As customer demands increase, the value of real-time data in financial businesses increase too. A Forrester Report revealed that 53% of employees who used Office 365 spent less time making decisions because they had better access to information. In addition, the performance of employees improved at 43% of the surveyed organizations because “they have access to company portals and actionable information anytime, anywhere.”
Business Intelligence makes it convenient for analysis of information which can be used to improve/optimize decisions and performance.
A financial institution for example, can champion business intelligence through Office 365. On a day-to-day basis in many institutions, there are a barrage of emails that come in. Employees may decide to respond to these emails using up a chunk of their day and sacrificing strategic opportunities over email driven tasks. By migrating to Office 365 Enterprise, these employees will have access to MyAnalytics, an application which summarizes how people spend their time at work and suggests ways to work smarter based on this data. Some of these opportunities to work smarter included reducing unproductive meeting times, suggesting periods of time during which to check and respond to emails etc.
Spending
Saving money may very well be one of the top five goals of any business, specifically the financial sector. No business wants to spend more than they should in any area of operation. This is what makes Office 365 an ideal solution – it’s cost effectiveness. It has allowed various financial institutions to reduce their overhead costs. They save on hardware and devices, and on licensing costs, as the price per user for many programs are minimal. Additionally, something attractive for businesses in recent years is the decrease in travel costs and the increase in productivity. The cloud continues to enable wins.
Small to midsize businesses can save more time and money which they can then use to devote to customers and other business services.
Security
Office 365 in its entirety works to benefit financial institutions and improve their internal operations. However, even with the advancement of technology, the risks associated with data security continue to exist. Therefore, financial businesses have been turning to Office 365 to help minimize the risks associated with the online space.
Singapore-based digital bank DBS epitomizes the future of banking. They evaluated Microsoft Office 365—focusing on SharePoint and OneDrive for Business—and determined that the security measures which these solutions provided were ideal for them.
David Gledhill, its Chief Information Officer said, “We believe the Microsoft cloud is more secure than anything a traditional bank could implement. DBS gains consistent vigilance, technology experts that no bank could likely retain, and constant security reinvestment.”
Microsoft’s cloud solutions are now being used by 6 of the top 10 banks globally and by over 7000 financial institutions. In the Caribbean, financial institutions can benefit from the cloud by discussing their specific needs with a trusted cloud solutions provider like Inova Solutions who will work to ensure that they are working more efficiently and effectivity through the cloud, to accomplish their strategic goals.