Financial Companies and the Cloud: 5 Trends

by | Apr 28, 2022

Spurred by the pandemic, financial companies have accelerated digital transformation, including cloud computing. Among many benefits, cloud technology helps financial companies meet the evolving needs of consumers and lower infrastructure costs. In the Atlassian world specifically, we are seeing positive results from companies that moved their Atlassian instances to Cloud.

An Atlassian poll of customers revealed why financial companies are moving to Atlassian Cloud, and how it compares with customers in other sectors. The two largest reasons are no surprise: lowering cost and complying with digital transformation.

Source: Atlassian

Below are four more trends about financial companies and cloud migration — both overall, and specific to Atlassian products like Jira and Confluence.

The pandemic has moved financial companies toward the cloud

Actually, it sped up everyone’s move toward digital transformation, and financial companies were especially impacted. According to McKinsey, the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the digitization of customer interaction by several years. The jump was even more significant in sectors like finance. 

That is not a huge surprise because financial companies were previously moving at a slow pace and quickly went into high gear when remote work became necessary in 2020. The finance sector has been hesitant of cloud computing for reasons including security and hiring talent. In 2018, only one in four banks had a strategy to move to the cloud, according to Accenture. 

The publication CIO Dive sums it up nicely: “If there was any doubt America’s biggest financial institutions are ready to embrace and invest in cloud technology this year, it’s gone.”

“If there was any doubt America’s biggest financial institutions are ready to embrace and invest in cloud technology this year, it’s gone.”

Innovation is a top driver for financial companies moving to cloud technologies

Financial companies want to meet the expectations of today’s consumer with technological advances, even beyond online banking. For example, deploying artificial intelligence at scale is a priority for banks, and for many banks that is only possible in the cloud. 

Innovation is also one of the top benefits of moving Atlassian software to the cloud, according to the Atlassian poll of 25 financial service customers. A whopping 75% of respondents reported innovation is better in the cloud versus server (with 25% saying it’s equal, and no one saying it’s worse).

Change management tells a similar story: 62% of financial services companies say it’s better in Atlassian Cloud and 38% say it’s equal to server. Other features that rank high for financial services include reliability (83% say it’s better in Cloud), availability (79%), and automation (71%).

Source: Atlassian

We know that surveys done by a company about their own products sometimes feel too marketing-y. (Can you believe it? The soap company says soap works!) But the Atlassian data is interesting because it aligns with what independent analysts are saying about financial companies and the benefits of the cloud. It comes as no surprise that Atlassian customers would see success in the cloud.

The benefits of cloud technology happen rapidly for financial companies

Financial companies might have been shy to get to the table, but once they embrace the cloud, they see quick gains.

When Atlassian interviews customers across all sectors, 89% say they were reaping rewards within six months. For financial companies, 100% report it took less than six months to see Cloud benefits. 

Source: Atlassian

One of the largest challenges to cloud adoption financial companies face is people

No, it’s not security, regulation, compliance, C-level support, or infrastructure (but those are all real concerns). The biggest challenge for financial companies is finding technical hires. Only one-third of banks are well-staffed to handle cloud capabilities, according to Gartner. 

The competitive talent pool underscores the importance of having an experienced technical partner who understands the nuances of the financial industry. Here’s where we give our pitch: We help financial companies get the most out of their Atlassian tools, whether it’s migrating to Cloud, integrating systems, or implementing software. If you are considering migrating your Atlassian instances to Cloud, we recommend starting with a discussion with a partner like us to help you navigate. Please reach out to us for an initial consultation.

Ellie Behling is marketing manager for Modus Create and a former journalist covering finance, tech, media, and culture.

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