Crushing Big Data - The Keys to Successful Financial Services

The financial services industry is becoming increasingly more difficult to navigate. Unfortunately, the corresponding assumption is often that the technologies and know-how required to stay abreast of these transformations must be just as complex. Twenty-first century buzz phrases such as "big data", "cloud computing", "mobile solutions", and "predictive analytics" are tossed around the arena quite a bit, but these can get lost in an already-befuddling storm of industry changes. It is true that tough competition and stricter regulation requirements pose immense challenges for asset management firms, banks, and countless other economic institutions. But how do these clickbait words and phrases line up with actual solutions to improve your business?

Let’s begin by breaking down these scary terms — namely, what they mean and how they apply to boosting financial service institutions of today.

Big Data and Predictive Analytics

Big data is what can affectionately be termed as the big, bad boy of business technology. The ability to fully grasp and act on consumer trends requires the ability to crunch big numbers ("big data") — which, in turn, requires a predictive analytics framework equipped to gather data across multiple platforms and synthesize them into a data warehouse. Legacy systems and more traditional methods of data processing often produce a poor quality of data. This leaves many financial institutions woefully behind their peers in capitalizing on market fluxes.

Why and how did integrating big data analytics become so vital to the financial services industry? In its predictions for the biggest technology and data trends for 2016, MapR observes that "Machine learning will accelerate, and will be increasingly applied within the fraud and risk sectors" while "Advanced techniques will start being applied with fraud and risk that improve models [...] [for] more real-time analysis and alerting". As the real-world applications of these analytical technologies become ever more apparent, financial businesses big and small need to start adapting to keep up with the market.

Cloud Computing

Migrating a business’s data and information into one centralized, online location enables companies to be more readily adaptable to change — a rather necessary capability in the wildly unpredictable IoT era. Sapient’s guide to cloud-based financial frameworks notes that the flexibility afforded by today’s cloud computing options means higher levels of automatic computing and ease of utility by customers and business alike.

There exists a fear of cloud computing that, though slowly dissipating, remains to this day — namely, that cloud-based warehouses are the "hacker’s dream". Centralized data storage just means easier access for hackers, right? In fact, quite the opposite! The latest cloud technologies are also the most highly secure. The aforementioned platform-specific adaptations in the most efficient cloud services actually create greater, more centralized security measures that protect your data like a fortress.

Mobile Solutions

The financial sector of today no longer runs solely on the classic 9-to-5 model. New social, mobile, analytics, and cloud (SMAC) capabilities are bringing together clients and businesses like never before, able to communicate on an ad hoc basis that reduces wait periods for urgent matters. This revolutionary new business structure is due largely to the growing adoption of mobile application enterprises.

There’s no doubt about it; the average consumer carries out most daily social, shopping, and banking operations on smartphones, tablets, wearables, and a whole host of devices that give them more knowledge — and power — than ever before. The development of a mobile blueprint is a key factor in technological success for any financial services institution; connecting with consumers and peer institutions via mobile enterprise solutions means a leg up in consolidating and utilizing market data, analytics, and research. Mobile options can easily be applied and customized across a variety of smart devices and platforms, enabling your business to communicate and work seamlessly with customers even during off hours.

What Does It All Mean?

When it comes down to it, all of these highly advanced solutions are geared directly towards making things easier for both you and your customers. Let’s face it, your clients today are one tech-savvy demographic. Adopting newer predictive analytics, cloud-based softwares, and mobile solutions are the key to successful financial operations on both ends. Meeting consumers on their "territory" is the smartest way to build deeper, more trustworthy relationships — and, therefore, to streamline your business to reaching its full potential.

Prime Technology Group, LLC is a global, technology services company with innovation at the core of our business engagements. For more Information visit http://www.PrimeTGI.com