Sibos 2017: How Microsoft is leading transformation in financial services

Sibos 2017: How Microsoft is leading transformation in financial services
Toni Townes-Whitley outlines why finserv companies are choosing Microsoft cloud solutions

Elly Yates-Roberts |


Toni Townes-Whitley, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for Worldwide Industry, will present alongside a number of high profile spokespeople including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella next week at Sibos, the global financial services industry event, in Toronto, Canada on 16-19 October.

At the event, Townes-Whitley will discuss the potential that Microsoft cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies have to help financial service organisations operate more efficiently and improve how they deliver services to customers.

“Financial services organisations are at a transformational tipping point,” said Toni Townes-Whitley, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Worldwide Industry, in a blog post. “Faced with fierce market pressures – nimble disruptors, complex regulations, digital native customers – technology transformation in the industry is essential, and it’s increasingly becoming a competitive edge. Firms leading the charge into this new era are transforming customer experiences, fostering a new culture of work, optimising operations and driving product innovation, and they are using Microsoft cloud, AI and blockchain technologies in their journey to become digital leaders of the future.”

One topic Microsoft will discuss is how digital technology can help to foster a digital culture and create workplaces that harness digital intelligence to improve experiences and enable mobility.

The State Bank of India, for example, is working with Microsoft to create a modern workplace for its employees. The banks have adopted Microsoft Office 365 to enhance communication and collaboration among its workforce.

“The imperative for financial services firms is to engage customers in a way that is natural, tailored and delightful at every turn,” said Townes-Whitley. “The most innovative firms will create experiences that harness data from customers to derive actionable insights and deliver greater market success.”

Other sessions will look at how customer expectations have changed due to the speed of technology. Microsoft will highlight how TD Bank has turned to Microsoft Azure and data platform services to help deliver on its promise of good customer service at every touchpoint.

“The most innovative firms will create experiences that harness data from customers to derive actionable insights and deliver greater market success.” said Townes-Whitley “Shifting line-of-business applications and other capabilities to the cloud is a foundational step along the digital transformation journey that enables banks to save big and reinvest dollars in more innovative, value-add banking services.”

In addition, the Microsoft executives will highlight how shifting line-of-business applications and other capabilities to the cloud are a foundational step in the digital transformation journey that enables banks to save and reinvest money in more innovative services.

They will explore how UBS is using Microsoft Azure to power its risk management platform to run millions of calculations daily. The result is a speeding calculation time by 100%, saving 40% in infrastructure costs, gaining nearly infinite scale within minutes. This means the firm can have more working capital on hand and employees can make quicker, more informed decisions for their clients.

Meanwhile, Crédito Agricola will share why it considers open banking the future standard for the financial services industry. The bank’s digital strategy on open banking seeks to leverage the cloud to provide seamless interactions, while complying with regulation. Credito Agricola is using Microsoft Azure to deliver open banking capabilities like application programming interface management gateway, security and identity.

“Driving product and business model innovation allows organizations to harness data as a strategic asset, shifting from hindsight to foresight, automating manual processes, delivering personalisation to customers, and innovating with new business models, services, products and experiences to differentiate and capture emerging opportunities,” said Townes-Whitley.

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