Nedbank has partnered with Microsoft to migrate components of its IT infrastructure to the cloud. It says it is the first bank in the country to run operations of this scale in the cloud.
The banks says the partnership forms part of “Nedbank’s robust 2020 digital transformation vision and three-lane digital strategy, which focuses on running the business (Digitise), transforming the business (Delight) and disrupting the business (Disrupt) as well as better serving the bank’s diverse client base”.
Nedbank group chief information officer Fred Swanepoel says the bank selected Microsoft as its digital transformation partner because of the culture fit and alignment between the two companies as well as Microsoft’s proven ability to effectively manage large organisations’ needs in the cloud.
“Transformation is a complex journey, so it is critical to choose partners with a cultural fit, which Nedbank and Microsoft enjoy” he says. “It’s also important to partner with someone you can trust to not only protect your data and its privacy but to deliver the world class service you require. Nedbank believes that financial services providers that get digital right will be more successful at traversing an uncertain future.”
Nedbank is a lighthouse financial services customer for Microsoft, meaning it utilises all three clouds: Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365, using all three as a seamless and integrated experience, which include layers of security and data residency to ensure compliance with local regulations.
Microsoft South Africa managing director Lillian Barnard says: “Moving these components of the bank’s IT infrastructure to Microsoft’s cloud represents a critical next step in [their digital transformation] journey, and we are excited to see how this will add value in driving Nedbank’s ambitious growth strategy.”
Nedbank has a strong footprint across the continent and digitilisation is central to its strategy to transform the way it operates and provides products and services to clients as a leading African financial services provider.
“Banks have an intelligent role to play in advising their clients how to optimise their finances, and digital transformation can help achieve this by creating operational efficiencies and enabling agility and flexibility to deliver cutting-edge solutions and client-centric banking,” says Barnard. “Microsoft values being able to partner with a forward-looking financial services provider like Nedbank to drive this change.”
