If you ask a banker if it's safer to cloud host their IT infrastructure or keep it in-house, most will tell you the cloud is a great idea and probably where the industry is going, but it's not for them right now. Do you see it? Do you see the comedy in talking to bank management about whether they should keep something important at home or trust a respected third-party with it? Trust someone else with what you value most. Isn't that the cornerstone of the banking industry?
In a word, yes. The banking industry only exists because consumers are willing to take what is most important to them, their cash, and hand it over to a trusted third party, the bank. We as consumers do that because the bank is better at managing it than we are. I know it's a little irreverant and over-simplifying, but isn't it interesting that banks are unwilling to take the leap of faith they require of their customers? It is an appropriate analogy because cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) are way better (and cheaper) at managing IT infrastructure compliance, scalability and availability than banks are.
Some banks are already embracing AWS and recognizing massive benefits across the board, but the vast majority of bankers either rely on a pseudo-cloud provider (a software company that provides a hosted option) or the same infrastructure they would have in-house, just provided in a concrete building somewhere. There is a big difference between real cloud hosting of services and putting your servers somewhere else...but that's a topic for another time.
So for now if you've made it to this point without hating me, I have a tiny bit of homework for you. Take a look at these two services AWS provides FOR FREE when you use their services:
If you read even the summary on those two pages, your eyebrows should be raised in deep consideration of, "Why don't we use AWS?"
To be clear, Epic River does not sell AWS services. We don't get any click referral fees for the links I put in here, and they don't even know I'm writing this. But we do work with banks. Lots and lots of banks. We benefit when banks use AWS and are much more likely to grow and profit and keep customer data safe.
Huh...that's pretty much what I would say to someone who tells me they keep their cash at home under their mattress instead of at a bank.
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