The shift to digital banking has begun, say global financial services IT leaders recently attending a roundtable hosted by The Banker.

Convenience, speed, agility and the ability to create intuitive user experience without compromising security is a standard requirement of the rapidly changing customer-bank relationship especially given the shift we’re seeing in customer demographics.  Banks know that the faster they meet the needs of younger, tech-savvy consumers and employees, the better their businesses can compete and thrive. The goal is to provide a truly frictionless experience to both customers and employees that could stand up to Uber or any other popular app.

But there are hurdles. No financial IT team wants to just rip and replace what they’ve spent years building—not just because they built it, but because what they’ve built runs mission-critical applications. They’d rather evolve current processes and systems as they embrace enterprise-wide digital strategies that focus on improving customer experiences and driving growth without compromising security or compliance.

But what specifically are they doing and which technologies are they embracing?

• At the core, they are modernizing and mobilizing IT to achieve digital transformation.
• They’re changing mindsets and adopting new software-defined approaches to drive their innovation agendas.

5 Steps

They’re becoming a digital bank by following these key 5 steps

1. Commit to a Modern Data Center
   1. Extend virtualization across compute, storage, networking and security
   2. Increase IT automation and management
   3. Run modern apps side by side with traditional apps
   4. Shift focus from maintenance to innovation

2. Embrace Cloud Technologies
   1. Extend seamlessly to all clouds for rapid innovation
   2. Secure all apps across clouds and devices
   3. Enjoy scalability with zero upfront

3. Optimize Bank Branches
   1. Empower branch ambassadors to delight customers
   2. Make banking simple, effortless, and convenient for customers
   3. Centralize and automate data in a secure manner anytime, anywhere

4. Personalize Customer Experiences
   1. replace legacy with mobility-first mindsets
   2. Deploy any app on any device with conditional access policies
   3. Digitize services for anywhere, anytime banking
   4. Create new ways to bring the unbanked into the mainstream

5. Adopt a security-first approach
   1. Streamline compliance from data centers to devices
   2. Ensure robust Security through micro-segmentation
   3. Leverage a platform that integrates the latest zero-day threat information

At every step, global banks are working with VMware to seamlessly transition from legacy IT to modern infrastructure and clouds, merge traditional interactions and digital engagement, and adopt transformative security

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