Is Your Financial Institution’s IT Architecture Updated?

Customer expectations for banks, wealth management companies, and insurers are on the rise. In 2013, more than half of consumer bank interactions around the world took place through online or mobile channels. With ATMs and the share of electronic, digital interactions now exceeds 85% today and could hit 95% by 2020.

Financial institutions did not design their IT operating models to deliver daily functionality updates or allow change to be an ongoing theme in development. The current model was designed to deliver stability, predictability, risk mitigation and efficiency—and most banks have delivered on those design principles.

Digital initiatives require IT experts who deeply understand customers’ needs as well as business executives who grasp what technology can do. In other words, companies need more business-enabled talent within IT and more IT-enabled talent within the business. Current IT staff will need to learn new skills, and new expertise will need to be brought in from the outside. Companies must evolve their labor-sourcing models to identify partners who can contribute to design in contrast with today’s IT sourcing.

Most banks and insurance companies run their businesses on complex IT architectures that have been modified and patched to help their systems keep up with business demands. Starting fresh is rarely an option, but most financial institutions will need to update and adapt their IT architectures over the next few years to make them more modular and flexible.

Are you a Financial Institution looking to outsource your IT? Here are some of the top reasons why others have:

1. Reduce and control operating costs. When you outsource, you eliminate the costs associated with hiring an employee, such as management oversight, training, health insurance, employment taxes, retirement plans etc.
2. Improve company focus. It is neither practical nor possible to be a jack of all trades. Outsourcing lets you focus on your core competencies while another company focuses on theirs.
3. Gain access to exceptional capabilities. Your return on investment is so much greater when you outsource information technology to a firm that specializes in the areas you need. Instead of just the knowledge of one person, you benefit from the collective experience of a team of IT professionals. Outsourced IT companies usually require their IT staff to have proper industry training and certifications as well.
4. Free internal resources for other purposes. You may have someone in your office that is pretty good with computers or accounting, but most likely these were not the jobs he or she was hired to do. If they are spending time taking care of these things, who is doing what they were hired to do? Outsourcing allows you to retain employees for their highest and best use, rather than wasting their time on things that may take them longer than someone who is trained in these specific areas.
5. Resources are not available internally. On the flip side, maybe you don’t have anyone in your company who can manage your IT needs, and hiring a new employee is not in the budget. Outsourcing can be a feasible alternative, both for the interim and for the long-term.
6. Maximize restructuring benefits. When you are restructuring your company to improve costs, quality, service, or speed, your non-core business functions may get pushed aside. They still need to be handled, however, and outsourcing is an optimal way to do this. Don’t sabotage your restructuring efforts by failing to keep up with non-core needs.
7. Function difficult to manage or out of control. This is definitely a scenario when outsourcing to experts can make a big difference. But don’t make the mistake of thinking you can forget about the problem now that it’s being “handled.” You still need to be involved even after control is regained.
8. Make capital funds available. By outsourcing non-core business functions, you can spend your capital funds on items that are directly related to your product or your customers.
9. Reduce Risk. Keeping up with technology required to run your business is expensive and time consuming. Because professional outsourced IT providers work with multiple clients and need to keep up on industry best practices, they typically know what is right and what is not. This kind of knowledge and experience dramatically reduces your risk of implementing a costly wrong decision.

Valeo Networks’s (Valeo Networks) Managed Services Provider Product is the complete technology solution for you. We have dependable, effective, service-desk solutions through a veteran team of IT professionals based in the U.S. Listed below are a few ways Valeo Networks can help your company:

• Hardware and Software Audits
• Performance, Patch & Anti-virus Reports
• LogMein Remote Control
• Multi-Vendor Anti-Virus Management
• Application, Performance & Hardware Monitoring
• Full Remote Problem Resolution
• Server Maintenance Schedules
• Service Requests for Issues Outside of Monitoring
• Remote Login and Diagnosis

Looking to determine whether your company should outsource your IT functions? Give Valeo Networks a call or email us today!

Valeo Networks, LLC (Valeo Networks’s) mission is to provide our clients with the best in-class products and service. Our Experts take pride in demonstrating their passion for their work and their desire to make a difference. We are committed to providing you with the best customer service experience possible. 100% of our service and installations are performed by certified technicians with technical degrees in their field, not uncertified subcontractors. 100% of our technicians are measured on specific technical proficiencies for all of the services we provide.

Call us at (800) 584-6844 to discover why many businesses count on us for dependable IT solutions today.

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