How network design can help you keep up with financial service industry trends

Proactive Network Design

The term ‘hybrid cloud’ is often mentioned in the context of infrastructure, and any infrastructure, particularly one that involves multiple providers, should be designed proactively rather than just occurring organically¹. This prevents an organisation from going down a path which may not fit their future business objectives —where parts of the business inadvertently become impacted by decisions outside of their control—and helps ensure an efficient network. However, it’s not quite as simple as cloud vs on-prem. We’re seeing a shift towards having an application layer that sits abstracted on the network, which could involve a range of components including cloud, on-prem, machine learning, and edge processing. Your network must provide enough flexibility to support the whole layer, including SaaS, PaaS, and any other components in your technology solution. 

Having infrastructure with the capacity, reliability, and predictability to connect disparate data sources is essential for a growth strategy. With a well-structured network, data can be processed in situ, rather than bringing excessively large amounts of data to a central point for processing. Efficient network design and network operations allow data to be managed in context, and enable geographically dispersed decisions to be made faster.

Address the IT Skills Shortage

Advancement in low code and no code are driving application innovation at a much faster pace than the talent pool can support. It is even more imperative now to proactively design the network for flexibility to mitigate failure due to the technical debt to deliver the connectivity these advances will dictate. The lack of skills necessary to maintain these advancements may limit the pace of change an organisation can sustain. 

By 2026, Gartner predicts ≥80% low-code development tool users will not be IT department based².

Investment in automation and digitisation are expected to be top priorities for financial services organisations over the next 2 years³. 

GenAI

Topics in IT and business that are of interest to consumers—so are grabbing mainstream media headlines—includes generative AI. There’s no doubt that this will feature among financial services strategies^1,4 this year. Adapting network infrastructure to accommodate the growing influence of AI within the business is a dynamic process that requires a combination of technical expertise, strategic planning, and a commitment to staying current with emerging technologies. It necessitates a flexible approach in network design supported by a series of controls to ensure performance while maintaining network integrity. Among the key considerations are:

1. Increased Bandwidth and Speed: AI applications often require significant computational power. As AI models become more complex and datasets grow larger, organisations need to ensure that their networks have sufficient bandwidth and speed to support the increased data transfer and processing requirements.
2. Edge Computing: To enhance the performance of AI applications and reduce latency, organisations may adopt edge computing. This involves processing data closer to the source (at the edge of the network) rather than relying solely on centralised cloud servers.
3. Scalability: AI workloads can be dynamic, with fluctuating computational demands. Network infrastructure must be scalable to handle variations in workload without sacrificing performance. Cloud-based solutions and virtualisation technologies can assist in scaling up or down as needed.

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