SmartStream
I can have these data lakes where customers can throw in all their data, it is a huge win.”
Bridging the gap
Data Exchange, which gives clients the ability to register and get access to the data, while AWS handles the security aspects.”
“Essentially they are sharing each other’s private cloud and this is a very streamlined process from our perspective,” Martinez continues. “Personally, I would be happy if we could shut down FTP and FTP ports. It takes time to ensure all the FTP stuff is accurate. The next step is definitely the use of the public cloud through AWS, Snowflake and others.” For clients not yet willing to take this step, SmartStream can push data into so-called ‘lakes’, which can be easily updated and maintained. People accessing the data can get to what they need quickly and easily, and all SmartStream has to do to maintain the data quality is to update a single master file, and everything falls into place wherever the data comes from. “In the old days, people would say you didn’t get fired for hiring IBM, but now you won’t get fired for using FTP,” Martinez explains. “The barrier to moving away from FTP is that people are familiar with it and don’t want to change. It may take a younger generation to be in charge of technology and have key leadership positions, if banks are to embrace the unknown more easily.”
“When one organisation asked us to look at AWS Data Exchange file protocol and get rid of FTP, they found that we had already started looking at it a year or two before,” he adds. “The next step is getting away from all of these files that generate terabytes of wasted disk space. When clients have to store data for some time, the volume of data grows and much of it is not immediately useful, so it just sits there. If
Future Banking /
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The next generation of data management solutions for banks is likely to rely on AWS Data Exchange, Snowflake and other cloud-based platforms and Martinez expects to see that model deployed as early as next year. SmartStream has been ahead of the curve on that trend and is also preparing for other innovations that could have a seismic impact. “We are also looking at providing machine-to- machine data, so we don’t have to build user interfaces to view the data,” he remarks. “The proliferation of no code/low code we might develop some interfaces (UI) because we work with customers of all sizes, not just the Tier 1 banks, and as you move down from Tier 1 to Tier 3 banks, there is a lower level of sophistication.” “At the lower tiers we can help the techno- functional people in the bank to look at the data when they have issues,” he adds. “They may not yet be ready for APIs, which might be too complicated or take up too much time. But the UI helps to keep more fluid engagement with those customers and their data.”
This approach sums up some key elements of SmartStream’s philosophy. The first is that the company seeks an in-depth understanding of client needs, whether they’re big global banks or smaller players, notably including the new wave of challenger banks. The second is its focus on anticipating the challenges and opportunities that are coming over the horizon, rather than just focusing on point solutions for the here and now.
For instance, SmartStream is already looking past data lakes to find a way of working with vendors to become a more embedded part of its clients’ infrastructure and networks. “Now, there is a clear delineation – we get data and process it and put it in a data lake, to which customers have to link to get to the data,” Martinez explains. “I would like to see us creating agents that act as the module through which our customers can interact with our solutions.” “We could create virtual links and our code would be the entity that deals with their data,” he adds. “We would absorb one more step of the process, get closer to our customers and make their lives easier by taking on a time-consuming process that is on-going all the time.”
SmartStream strives to give customers what they want today, while working on what they need tomorrow, even though they don’t know it yet. For more than 30 years it has succeeded. ●
23 Left: Rocky
Martinez, CTO of the SmartStream Reference Data Utility.
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