Five Reasons Financial Institutions Need Virtualization Now

1) Reducing IT costs is more important than ever
According to Financial Insights, virtualization is one of the top five priorities for IT spending in the financial services industry. Server and endpoint virtualization are transforming IT operations by reducing costs through higher resource utilization. This offers financial institutions a streamlined, automated and cost-effective way to deploy and support both computing resources and users, while also meeting regulatory requirements for privacy and reporting.

Andi Mann, Research Director at Enterprise Management Associates, has noted 90 percent of enterprises report real and measurable ROI from virtualization in general. This translates into renewed opportunity for financial institutions to leverage virtualization as a cost saving measure.

This includes server initiatives. Standardizing on a common set of tools at the software layer can greatly reduce operational complexity across heterogeneous operating systems, storage and applications. Financial services institutions can lower their costs with tiered storage. Older files can be moved to less expensive storage devices without changing the way users or applications access those files.

2) Combating vulnerability through better security
In trying economic times, financial institutions can find themselves at their most vulnerable point. According to Scott Crawford, Research Director for Enterprise Management Associates, “The most common element of exploit is the endpoint, partly because it is still under the control of the individual. It’s a difficult environment to get a handle on.”

It’s even more challenging for institutions with many branch offices and remote employees scattered across the globe. Such a complex management environment is filled with insecurities and inefficiencies, but leaving it to users can be infinitely more dangerous.
Institutions are finding that a well-managed workspace is a secure workspace. Virtualization helps institutions achieve this security by implementing better endpoint controls.

3) Improved flexibility throughout the institution
Virtualization helps financial institutions become more agile by providing the employees access to their workspaces from any location. With streaming technology, users can get access to their applications anywhere, anytime, on-demand. That access drives user productivity and is a direct contributor to an institution’s top line. This approach, which requires only a single connection and efficiently utilizes server and connection resources, ensures users obtain consistently reliable access to an institution’s applications and data.

In addition, IT no longer needs to install and configure all applications on every workstation since they can be streamed in a virtual layer only when needed.

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