Major changes have occurred within the asset management industry since 2008. Regulatory change and lower profits have forced asset managers to take a closer look at their operational efficiency. However, they have also resulted in asset managers leveraging a wider range of products in search of alpha. Trying to grow client and product base, while simultaneously compressing costs is a challenging feat, but one that can be achieved by migrating a firm’s technology estate into the cloud.

It’s commonplace for asset managers to view migration to the cloud as something that might compromise their security and regulatory requirements. The reality is that cloud security is likely to be stronger than what you currently have in place. Numerous government agencies have moved to cloud, forcing cloud suppliers to provide a level of security that exceeds the requirements of most asset managers. If the CIA can make the move, why can’t the asset management industry?

Unsurprisingly, asset managers are making the move. The pack is being led by a number of firms who have taken the jump into cloud and are seeing cost savings up to 80% in comparison to their on premise infrastructure. Another major benefit to leveraging cloud is you use what you need. You no longer need to pay for servers which are sitting idle for the majority of your business day. When your batch kicks in you can have greater horse power to handle spikes in volume.

The change in dev ops approach is also a major plus when moving to cloud. It’s possible to reduce testing and deployment overhead from hours down to minutes. While at the same time adding a greater level of resiliency and automation into the process. Deployment is no longer a high risk activity you do once a month, but a low risk activity that becomes part of the daily or weekly cycle­­ as you provide exactly what clients want.

While the cost saves are significant, the real driver behind cloud is agility. By removing the time constraints and logistics around infrastructure and platform setup, it’s possible to enable technology teams to build and deploy applications in weeks. Turning on a new product? Enabling a major new reporting feature? Adding a new region? None of these need to be actions that take months to prepare. This change in how asset managers can drive innovation will increase competition for clients and client expectations.