In a development that is surely going to have far-reaching ramifications for the banking and financial services industry, International Business Machines (IBM) announced today that it had created a financial services centric cloud technology in partnership with Bank of America. It is a significant development since the retail banking giant is going to be the first bank of its size to use such cloud-based technology for its operations. The platform is public, and it is the first cloud created by IBM that has tailored to the needs of the industry in question.
In addition to that, the platform has also been created, keeping in mind the security needs and specific regulatory provisions that are specific to the financial services industry. Cathy Bessant, chief operations and technology officer of Bank of America, spoke about the importance of setting up such a platform. She said,
By setting a standard that addresses the concern of hosting highly confidential information, we aim to drive the public cloud to a safety level that is unmatched.
It is a significant development, and if it does prove to be successful, then many more banks will eventually follow the example. Moreover, it could also lead to long term collaborations for IBM with some of the biggest names in the banking and financial services industry. Bank of America has made a conscious effort to enhance its cloud capabilities, and to that end, it has reduced the number of servers from 200,000 to 70,000. The number of data centers has also been trimmed to only 23 from 67. This effort has led to savings of as much as $2 billion a year for the bank, and it would not be a surprise if more banks follow the example of America’s second-biggest bank.