IBM Cloud delivering 50% IT budget savings for banking

IBM is delivering billion-dollar savings for banks when it comes to IT spend by tackling increased security and regulatory compliance demands by moving to the cloud. 

IBM says these savings could be as much as 50% of annual IT budgets, which for a large financial organisation could equate to US$5bn.

For financial services institutions needing to drive innovation while also adhering to strict security and compliance requirements, hybrid cloud has grown in importance.

IBM Cloud for Financial Services uses built-in security and compliance protocols to help banking clients reduce risk and barriers to transformation and innovation. The tools enable real-time monitoring and reporting that reduce risks associated with manual updates.

"As financial institutions seek to modernise and harness the power of hybrid cloud and AI, the need for security and compliance across all platforms is paramount,” said Howard Boville, Head of IBM Cloud Platform.

“IBM Cloud for Financial Services aims to address the risks the industry is facing with built-in controls focused on the regulatory barriers that have historically impeded digital transformation.”

IBM Cloud for Financial Services partner ecosystem 

Launched in 2019, IBM Cloud for Financial Services was designed in collaboration with Bank of America. At that time, Boville was BOA’s CTO, but he stepped down from that position in April 2020 to join IBM’s cloud business.

Now banks around the world can host mission-critical applications in the cloud to transact quickly and efficiently while also taking advantage of an ecosystem that has grown to now include more than 100 independent software vendor (ISV) partners and software as a service (SaaS) partners. Those partners include SAP, Cisco, VMware, Fortinet, Medallia, and more.

Leading banks using IBM’s cloud solutions include Bank of America, BNP Paribas, MUFG, Banco Sabadell, and CaixaBank.

In a recent interview, IBM said that BNP Paribas had cut its IT costs in half in just eight months using IBM Cloud.

"Together with some of the world's largest banks and leaders in regulatory compliance we are driving a change in cloud adoption for highly regulated industries, aiming to improve the security and compliance posture for the industry," said Boville. 

"With a focus on data security delivered with IBM's confidential computing and sophisticated encryption capabilities, we aim to reduce risk in the supply chain for banks, insurers and other financial services industry players, and at the same time accelerating the time by which they can drive and consume innovation."