Organisations know the benefits a cloud modernisation project can bring to their business. They know about the lowered costs, competitive time-to-market, and enhanced scalability a cloud infrastructure can bring.
Yet, a cloud computing skill gap is emerging across the financial services industry. According to Accenture, many banks are concerned about needing more staff with cloud computing expertise, especially when managing core functions. One-third of respondents in a Google Cloud report said a lack of technical skills is an obstacle to cloud migration.
A successful modernisation project requires expertise across various specialisms, from security to DevOps, business analysts to project managers, engagement teams to testers. Those involved need a key combination of experience and know-how to ensure a smooth transition.
A successful modernisation project requires expertise across various specialisms, from security to DevOps, business analysts to project managers, engagement teams to testers. Those involved need a key combination of experience and know-how to ensure a smooth transition.
Addressing the challenges
The first step must always be analysing the capabilities and deficiencies of your existing staff. This process should always be underway, but it takes on greater importance when kicking off a cloud journey.
All facets of cloud computing should be covered – from architecture to security, operations and governance. IT team leaders may also need staff with specific skills and competencies with leading cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services.
Architects capable of working across complex IT stacks at will are challenging to find and expensive to secure. This is where an organisation should consider the possibilities of upskilling or reskilling existing talent within the company:
- Upskilling
- Teaching existing employees new skills to optimise their performance
- Reskilling
- Training employees to adapt to a different post within the company to cover a skills deficiency
Transforming the capabilities of your existing workforce is a solution much closer to hand than many institutions may think. It removes all costs of seeking and hiring new talent, generates greater job security, and improves morale.
A company willing to boost its cloud engineering capabilities can incentivise technical employees to pursue cloud computing certifications. AWS, Google, Microsoft, and other infrastructure providers offer courses and certificates focused on their respective cloud services, while the Cloud Security Alliance provides security-focused ones.
Finding the right partner
Another strategy to counter the skills gap, beyond ramping up your hiring efforts, is to work with a provider or partner proven in the market for large-scale cloud transformation. External teams can boost your organisation by creating and covering the necessary infrastructure and circumvent the delays in searching for talent, giving your organisation time to either hire or upskill talent ready to maintain your platform for years to come.
Complex cloud developments require high levels of skill and expertise, which is why Pismo prides itself on having migrated millions of accounts flawlessly for large and small clients. Our teams are experts in their field, with real-world experience of ensuring smooth cloud transitions between various platforms and hosting scenarios.
We refuse to leave our customers in the dark: Pismo’s processes give real-time visibility to the customer during all stages. The customer can monitor everything inside our platform during and after the modernisation. Whichever the chosen method, the bank has total control over the information being transferred.
Get in touch with Pismo today and let’s talk about your transformation plans.
