Data centres Head in the clouds
It’s an almost endless debate across fi nancial data centres: physical or cloud? Though many banks still feel more comfortable hosting their own facilities on-site, cloud solutions are emerging as a simpler and greener alternative. Abi Millar delves into this rapidly changing – and increasingly sustainable – fi eld by talking to Alex Rabbetts, managing director of the European Data Centre Association and Ricardo Jantarada, global head of telecom and datacenter at BNP Paribas CIB.
I
n years gone by, few banks would have countenanced the idea of a cloud-based data centre. Moving their computing off-premises would have seemed unforgivably reckless – not least given the risks of cyberattacks. More recently, however, that perception has shifted.
True enough, not every IT application can be hosted by third-party providers – at least for the foreseeable future, some mission-critical functions will need to remain on-site. All the same, an increasing number of banks are embracing a hybrid model, in which a portion of their IT infrastructure is migrated to the cloud. “There has been a notable change in industry attitudes,” says Alex Rabbetts, managing director of the European Data Centre Association (EUDCA). “For back-office and non-critical applications, the people responsible for IT realise that these can be easily
fulfilled using cloud services and are more than happy to access them this way.”
In a 2020 survey by International Data Corporation (IDC), 57% of banks said they already ran in hybrid environments, with another 31% said they would move to hybrid models within the next 12 months. Another survey, by Accenture, found that banks only handle 8% of their tasks in the cloud to date, but that this could double by 2024. The reasoning is clear: cloud computing is faster, more efficient and better equipped to handle banks’ growing data demands. “I think the benefits [of using] the cloud include a managed environment provisioned and supported by organisations for whom the data centre is their core competence,” says Rabbetts. “It’s almost certainly run better than you run your own facility. Your costs are fixed and predictable.”
Data centres
Future Banking /
www.nsbanking.com
33
Fizkes/
Shutterstock.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53
