National Australia Bank (NAB) has added Google Cloud to its cloud technology strategy as it looks to leverage the world’s leading cloud providers to help it deliver new and improved experiences for customers.
In adding Google Cloud to its multi-cloud approach, that already includes Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, NAB can draw on the best innovations and features that each cloud provider can offer while avoiding concentration risks as it aims to move 35 per cent of its applications to the cloud by the end of 2020.
NAB Chief Technology and Operations Officer Patrick Wright said Google Cloud brought great capabilities and innovations, particularly in data analytics, machine learning and container management, as well as an alignment with the bank’s multi-cloud strategy.
“Our customers are asking us to better understand their needs and to meet those expectations far more efficiently than we’ve been able to previously,” Mr Wright said.
“Investment in data is a critical element of our digital transformation – to be able to use data to develop products and services to improve customer experiences and be able to anticipate their needs.
“One of the benefits of a multi-cloud approach is the ability to move workloads across platforms and integrate different tools and capabilities. We’re designing our most critical applications to be portable between cloud partners to avoid concentration risk which is an important regulatory and risk consideration.
“We also want to tap into the advanced capabilities of the world’s best cloud providers to improve customer experience. Google’s history of embracing open source technology enhances our ability to orchestrate infrastructure effectively across multi-cloud environments, and their software-based platform, Anthos, is a unique solution that we’ll explore further over time.”
Hear from Patrick Wright speaking about the announcement.
Google Cloud ANZ Country Director, Colin Timm said: “When we first started talking to enterprises about cloud a few years ago, they were mostly concerned about reducing costs. Today, our open, flexible and secure platform helps companies streamline processes and optimize infrastructure spend. For forward-thinking organisations like NAB that take cloud as a game changer, it’s an opportunity to rethink a business, to impact the bottom line, reduce risk, and strengthen customer loyalty.”
NAB has added GCP training modules into the NAB Cloud and Analytics Guild education program, and will integrate GCP capabilities into the NAB Discovery Cloud and Data Hub in the future.
Since embarking on its cloud strategy, the bank has now moved more than 400 applications to the cloud, while also reducing its overall number of applications by eight per cent.
-Notes-
NAB’s Chief Architect Sergei Komarov has provided further details about NAB’s multi-cloud strategy here on the NAB Tech Blog.
NAB EGM Infrastructure, Cloud and Workplace Steve Day has also written about why NAB has public cloud first strategy here.
