Modernizing corporate banking for growth: Insights from Microsoft and Finastra thought leaders and industry specialists

Modernization means moving from outdated legacy systems, including in-house solutions that are difficult to maintain nowadays, to leverage the new opportunities that arise from new technology, such as AI and multi-cloud structures, to bring everything up to date and future-proof ready.

The question has shifted from 'if' to 'when' and 'how' to modernize technology. A strategy for navigating this complex transition is partnering with banking software companies and fintechs, that provide a wide range of products and services tailored and personalized to your financial institution, removing the barriers that prevent those from making progress.

The benefits of modernizing the system architecture include simplification of processes, standardization, cost reduction, enhanced performance and overall consolidate the agility - crucial in today's disruptive era marked by pandemics and geopolitical disputes. Without a modernized ecosystem, banks struggle to achieve the digital transformation that they need to move forward and keep their competitive edge. A modern platform includes components such as cloud infrastructure, SaaS applications, and microservice ecosystems linked with APIs. During the ongoing digital transformation strategy, it's vital not to overlook the human interaction with these technologies and to ensure ongoing skill development.

Modernization should be viewed not as a one-time task but as a series of steps, balancing costs with strategic goals and market timing. Banks should consider the simplification of all their systems and take advantage of low barriers to entry opportunities such as those around hybrid cloud, SaaS and integration.

Business leaders will always prioritize improvement in customer experience, system architecture, and profit margins. Improving technology is about future readiness, not just current upgrades. Banks need to ensure they can swiftly and efficiently access data to adopt new tools and AI systems.