It wasn’t that long ago that a deposit or withdrawal from your bank account required a visit to a brick and mortar building to complete the transaction. Back then, banking was inconvenient and time consuming. Today, we have multiple options when it comes to bank transactions. Internet and mobile banking have become an increasingly popular way to monitor and manage money and communication with the bank.
The other day when organizing my home office, I found a six-week-old check that I’d forgotten to deposit. With just a few taps on my smartphone, the check was on its way to being processed by the bank.
The banking industry and its IT systems have had to become nimble and flexible over the years. Not only is online and mobile banking driving rapid data growth, it is also driving technology advancements that transform the way a bank and its customers interact.
During EMC world Las Vegas, we had the opportunity to hear Tom McKowen, VP of IT at Independent Bank talk about his challenges, data-protection-as-a-service, and redefining IT to improve services delivered to the business. I found myself nodding approval to several statements:
- Data availability internally and externally is a must for today’s 24/7, 365-day banking industry
- Business continuity: 4-hour RPO / 15 minute RTO
- Layered approach for crash-consistent data protection with Avamar, VPLEX, and RecoverPoint
- Mapping to what is critical to the business and defining key metrics for uptime and recovery, and validating business process (blind spots)
- Moving towards Software Defined Datacenter to reduce impact points
Even with all the innovation in the banking industry, we can’t say goodbye to the brick and mortar buildings quite yet. You can’t get cold, hard cash through a phone. Customers still need options and access to banking services using a variety of different channels at different times.
Listen to the full interview here: