FINASTRA
approach challenges differently , with digital as the only vehicle . For example , we had to reimagine our project delivery processes , which typically involved in-person meetings and onsite implementations .
After reengineering many of our processes , we were able to deliver 400 implementations already in play at the start of the pandemic , without missing a beat . While there ’ s no substitute for a face-to-face relationship , we ’ ve integrated these lessons as we evolve . If you can deliver 99 % remotely and you or your customer no longer needs to travel , that adds tremendous flexibility .”
He notes that this aspect also cut down Finastra ’ s carbon footprint significantly , which is a key part of the company ’ s ESG mission , alongside social innovation and financial inclusion .
Strategic partnerships built on trust and expertise With such a large-scale , global operation , Soper agrees that selecting the right partners and vendors to be a part of your ecosystem is key to your success . He describes the value of his relationships with several industry-leading companies that Finastra operates with .
“ Microsoft is a key strategic partner for Finastra across a broad spectrum of areas , ranging from our journey to the cloud , to IPA ( intelligent process automation ), security and the employee experience ,” says Soper .
He adds , “ We ’ re a cloud-first company . Azure provides the scale and geographic reach we need .” Finastra ’ s 9k employees also rely heavily on Teams for daily use and Finastra has embraced the full Office365 suite as well as Microsoft ’ s cloud-native Sentinel .
Apptio is another close ally , he says , “ If you ’ re running legacy platforms with limited elasticity , or if you haven ’ t institutionalised certain operational rigor , it can be challenging to ensure you ’ re operating as efficiently as possible in the cloud . Cloudability helps us ensure we run the right blend of commitment discounts , elastic workloads and optimise our financial efficiencies in the cloud .”
“ In Financial Services , trust is essential , and security is absolutely crucial . It ’ s integrated into all of our processes , partnering with industry experts to ensure we maintain pace with best practices . Akamai is one of those key partners ,” says Soper . “ We leverage Akamai ’ s Global Business Intelligent Network with visibility to over 30 % of global internet traffic , complementing Finastra ’ s own operations .” technologymagazine . com 117