Bank of the future: H One and Microsoft talk cloud strategy with nation’s leading banks

Thursday, 6 March 2014 00:35 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

H One Ltd., Sri Lanka’s premier Microsoft Cloud Deployment Partner, recently hosted an exclusive cloud advisory session for CIOs of the nation’s foremost banks, entitled ‘Bank of the Future’. Special Guest – Forrester Vice President and Research Director Michael Barnes, a senior advisor to global CIOs, spoke about the trends impacting the industry, key concerns of today’s financial institutions, the role of regulations and the growing opportunities around cloud in the banking sector.

Held at the Hilton Colombo Residences, organisations including Commercial Bank, Hatton National Bank, National Savings Bank, PABC, Bank of Ceylon, Central Bank and Amana Bank were in attendance. Focused around driving business value through cloud, the event was geared to give the audience greater insight into global trends, areas where cloud can best be leveraged in banking operations, services that can be hosted with a service provider, and the experiences of the world’s largest multinationals on the cloud. Elaborating on cloud adoption and its ability to be a key differentiator, Barnes spoke about global shifts away from branch-banking towards virtual banking operations, apps and mobile-banking. He also highlighted increased competition from non-financial institutions due to technology adoption, and the scope for leveraging analytics towards more customer-focused offerings and engagement via cloud. Drawing from his consulting experience, Barnes addressed the changing role of IT in banking and finance as IT shifts away from simply business support to become a primary source of business value and an enabler of competitive differentiation. He emphasised that the key to success is to strike the right balance between internally-hosted and cloud-based services in efforts to provide the business with the tools, flexibility and scalability necessary to spur growth. CEO of H One Samath Fernando said: “This is an exciting time for the banking industry and for Sri Lanka. While the race is on to leverage technology and stay ahead, cloud presents avenues for banks to get closer to their customers, add value to service offerings through more meaningful and tailored interaction, and to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market. With our expertise and experience in transitioning the nation’s biggest and most respected organisations to the cloud, we look forward to seeing more banking institutions embracing cloud and helping them drive growth in the future.” Many leading organisations have already partnered with H One to invest in Microsoft O365, including John Keells Holdings, MAS Holdings, Brown & Company PLC, Sunshine Holdings, The Capital Maharaja Organisation, Lion Brewery, James Finlays’, Delmege Forsythe, Rockland Distilleries and University of Moratuwa. H One recently earned the elite status of Microsoft Cloud Deployment Partner with the experience of deploying over 12,000+ Microsoft Office 365 seats. H One is also a Microsoft Tier One Partner and top-ranked Large Account Reseller serving the largest number of Enterprise Agreement customers in Sri Lanka.