How and Why a Firm Grasp on IT Solutions Will Give Financial Institutions an Edge
The global financial landscape continues to change as lifestyle shifts and technological advancements morph into a round-the-clock service. Add to this that the financial sector is world-wide, thus banks are never closed, and the need for IT solutions for the finance world is even more apparent. Here is a look at 3 IT solutions and how and why they are vital in the world of finance.
What are IT Solutions
For the purpose of this article, a solution is any combination of products and/or services offered to address a specific need or problem. These solutions can range from the simple to the complex and can be a singular product or bundled package of software.
IT Solutions for the Finance World
Solution: Managed IT Services
Finance is fast-paced and ‘round the clock meaning IT problems need to be avoided and when they can’t be, they should be dealt with quickly.
How: Managed IT Services allow 24/7 attention to the network but it goes beyond this. By having a company manage IT services businesses have the expertise of staff dedicated to much more than simple user problems. Managed IT Services provide up to the minute advice, consulting, data-driven recommendations and more because a dedicated company with experts is dedicated to managing, monitoring, and improving your system. Rather than paying staff with baseline knowledge you have a resource dedicated only to the best practices and most relevant advances in the IT world.
Why: Having managed IT services means paying less for more. Dedicated experts up to date in the field of information technology who can tailor make tech recommendations based on your specific needs with the experience of seeing how other, similar businesses have done it. An added bonus is that these companies are also up to date on compliance and security matters. You get the skillset of a team and can focus resources and capital on your actual business. Hire staff who are experts in finance and allow IT professionals to direct and recommend the tech side of your business.
Solution: Transitioning to the Cloud
Financial institutions do not operate on a 9 to 5 schedule and with more and more multinational companies, work is essentially being done around the clock. A transition to the cloud is an IT Solution that can significantly up productivity and drop cost in the financial sector.
How: Cloud Computing allows for scalability, regular real-time updates, and instant access no matter where people are. Because cloud-based services are specific, financial institutions can choose exactly what they need and add or remove services as they go through an essentially limitless a la carte menu of available options.
Why: A popular IT solution is to transition to the cloud based exactly on the needs of the financial institution: no extra software, not hardware, just instant access to exactly what is needed. The cost savings are a huge benefit: select and pay for only what you need and add/drop services or scale up and down as necessary. A scaffolded transition to the cloud using managed IT services allows for safety assessments at every step and companies providing these services should be up to date on all safety and compliance matters.
Solution: IT Consulting
Financial institutions are experts in finance. But a financial institution can’t be experts in everything, including IT. As technology grows at an exponential rate it’s impossible to keep up. Think about how long it took people to get on board with email and how little it’s used now thanks to instant messaging, texting, and other communications software.
How: Bringing in IT Consulting is both an IT solution and a way to find IT solutions. Rather than getting comfortable with a particular platform and set of programs or way of using technology in the financial sector, institutions who bring in IT Consulting can stay on the cutting edge and learn about what is out there to help their businesses in cost effective ways through cloud, BYOD and learning about flexible options.
Why: An independent set of fresh eyes can see waste, inefficiencies and tap into latent potential. By observing how IT is used a consultant can boost efficiency and in turn, productivity. Unused software, easier ways to accomplish tasks, and even too much staff are often overlooked because in house staff rarely have the time to assess and suggest changes because they are too busy with day to day fire drills.
IT solutions exist to provide options for financial and other institutions to focus on their actual work while being more productive, efficient and cost effective. Three options worth examining are managed IT services that are focused on up-to-the-minute information rather than in house staff comfortable with the status quo, transitioning to the cloud in order to maximize resources, and taking advantage of IT consulting to discover how to do work better.
