The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and saw a race to adopt cloud-based solutions and other more flexible technologies due to the rapid increase in remote working. However, integrating these new solutions with existing technology is a complex task.
What’s more, both banks and corporates are increasingly relying on ever-evolving connections with trading partners, vendors, clients, regulators, and fintechs. These partnerships require firms to work with a diverse and ever-changing array of data formats and connections, often in non-standard formats, that demand constant management, mapping and maintenance. New industry standards, such as the SWIFT ISO 20022 migration, bring additional complexity.
But having such a wide range of requirements to keep up with means that many organisations are struggling to build and maintain connectivity in a way which works for their business.
Done internally, managing connectivity can seem like (and will inevitably be) a never-ending task. This ongoing process is time-intensive, requires specialist skills, and can become a significant (and unnecessary) expense each year in upskilling, funding internal resources, handling unsustainable point solutions, and maintaining proprietary technology.
Where businesses may have been able to manage connectivity in-house a few years ago, digital transformation and new technologies such as cloud have elevated its importance and complexity. Connectivity is now at such a scale, and of such significance that C-level and IT leaders must ask themselves – is this really a core-competency that we want our teams to focus on and specialise in?
For most firms, it shouldn’t be. Managing connectivity internally will drain time and money from higher-value, revenue-driving activities. Handing the reins over to the specialists is a far more effective option.
The right third-party expert will be able to take the connectivity burden off your team, managing everything from the message transformation, data migration and integration required for connectivity to function, to keeping these connections up to date as new standards and requirements emerge. As digital transformation continues at pace, control over your processes and assurance that they are performing as expected will become even more important.
Bringing decades of targeted domain expertise and ready-to-go connectors to the table, we have achieved rapid digital transformation for our customers. We have provided enhanced reporting and monitoring, giving businesses much-needed control and oversight over their operations and data as they grow at speed.
Handing connectivity requirements over to the experts can help organisations focus on revenue-generating activities that deliver true value. Ultimately, banks and corporates must now seek to apply the same outsourcing model used for other non-core competencies to connectivity – or risk being left behind.
To discover more about how Gresham is meeting the connectivity needs of financial institutions and corporates across the globe, contact our team below.
