A cloud-ready workforce is a goal many forward-thinking organisations across financial services are trying to achieve. Cultivating a culture prepared to navigate a shifting landscape is crucial as readiness for cloud computing has become more critical than ever.
Yet many firms remain stuck in what McKinsey defines as a “quagmire of legacy processes, methodologies, and technologies”, preventing true evolution to a cloud-first culture. So, what strategies are available for an organisation looking to capitalise on the benefits of the cloud?
Use your legacy strengths
Leading financial institutions did not develop in a vacuum. The industry is particularly suited for cloud adoption at scale due to a robust platform of skills and capabilities already available at most organisations.
Banks understand the importance of data analytics and its role in capturing and securing value. The real differentiating factor is the scale the cloud provides – enabling faster and more robust tools to improve your workforce’s capabilities dramatically.
While the cloud skills gap is biting for some in the sector, banks are better positioned than most to take advantage of highly skilled employees who are open and ready to learn. This makes it easier for organisations to kick-start their cloud journey through techniques like upskilling and reskilling.
A key strength banks may take for granted is an embedded culture prioritising compliance, process, and procedure. The journey to the cloud is not instantaneous, and having the knowledge and experience within your teams to ensure secure compliance and deployment at every stage shouldn’t be underestimated.
Take the first vital steps
Creating your cloud workforce of the future is no easy task, but there are a series of steps an organisation can take to set themselves on the right track.
Unify leadership and redefine roles
Achieving the full potential of cloud technology requires collaborative leadership alignment. Redefine critical cloud roles and construct a comprehensive workforce plan around them. Roles should be redesigned for the cloud, and these efforts should be a joint venture between IT and HR, fostering greater clarity and enabling a tailored talent acquisition strategy. While cloud initiatives may appear siloed, their impacts are far-reaching.
Understand the power of the cloud
Leaders should assess existing legacy platforms and processes around the new capabilities of the cloud. An update of operating models should occur where necessary to ensure streamlined application development and management.
Upskill employees
Banks should implement a structured approach to enhancing the competitiveness and competencies of their existing employees. Creating a revamped learning environment is vital to cultivating a more innovative, motivated team.
Pivot towards cloud-first governance
Cloud systems are dynamic by default. Forward-thinking organisations need to embrace new frameworks that place this realisation at the very centre. Develop protections and processes with a code-first approach rather than relying on older, manual strategies.
Evaluate your successes
Deloitte defines six benchmarks of success when it comes to workforce cloud enablement:
- Talent – Have you established forward-looking cloud roles or a strategy to source needed roles?
- Skills and human capabilities – Is there a prioritisation of the product and business skills needed to complete your journey?
- Operating model – Has your operation model been retooled to support cloud adoption and integration?
- Teams – Are your employees using cloud platforms to automate and innovate their daily tasks and working cross-functionality to achieve their goals?
- Governance – Have new controls and guardrails been established to realise the full potential of your investment?
- Leadership – Does your company leadership understand the capabilities and impact of the cloud on all areas of your business?
Find the right partner
To enable a cloud-first workforce in banking, a strategic approach involves collaborating with external teams and leveraging their expertise in cloud transformation. These teams can swiftly establish the necessary infrastructure, circumventing the time-consuming process of talent acquisition or upskilling, allowing your organisation to focus on its cloud transition.
By partnering with true cloud-native technology providers like Pismo, your employees can work closely with highly skilled experts and engineers during deployment and development, gaining real-time, hands-on experience to master the system.
Pismo’s track record in handling core system modernisation and seamlessly migrating millions of accounts for clients demonstrates our expertise and real-world experience in ensuring smooth cloud transitions.
Pismo’s transparent processes provide real-time visibility to customers at every stage, enabling your employees to monitor and acquire the requisite expertise, ultimately propelling your organisation into a successful cloud-first future.
Want to know more? Get in touch with our team today to take your first step.
