Amazon Web Services has been dominating the cloud market. With Synergy Research Group having found that the company controlled 31 percent of the full-year 2015 cloud infrastructure market – well above Microsoft's second-place bid at 9 percent – it's clear Amazon has proved itself to be much more than an online marketplace. But dominating the cloud market wasn't enough.
Amazon is now attempting to wrangle in one of the most lucrative industries: banking. Christina Rexrode and Emily Glazer, contributors for The Wall Street Journal, stated that AWS is going after big names like Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase in an effort to show them that by outsourcing, their computing and storage budget could be severely reduced within the cloud.
When it comes to banking – and really any business in general – there are two major concerns for technological adoption: cost and security. Banks are literally built on the premise that money is extremely important, so obviously these industry leaders are first going to need assurance from AWS that the cloud can reduce their current budget.
This is by far the easier hurdle that Amazon will need to overcome if it wishes to land these banking institutions. Until now, banks had to handle their own data needs. This usually meant building their own data centers, which is costly to say the least. AWS would allow these banks to stop having to maintain these facilities, which translates to less overhead in terms of staffing and power consumption. What's more, AWS's cloud offers a level of scalability that can't be matched within a personally owned data center.
Once the cost benefits are hashed out, the real discussion can begin. Banks hold on to the private financial information of their clients, which means a breach of this sensitive data could be extremely detrimental to business. Security is a huge concern for the banking industry, and AWS is going to need to show these institutions that it has the ability to keep this information safe.
Thankfully for Amazon, AWS has already done some work with an organization that's known for its secrecy.AWS's relationship with the CIA shows service's security abilities
In 2013, AWS signed a deal with the CIA concerning their data sprawl. This $600 million contract was meant to help the agency develop and maintain a cloud that would enable cooperation between departments, according to The Atlantic. The intelligence community may be effective at gathering information, but it was having some major trouble sharing it between clandestine organizations. This meant that vitally important data was spread out between agencies, causing confusion as different sectors had to deal with a "missing puzzle piece" scenario.
Although money was a big factor here – the government was spending $8 billion on IT for the intelligence community in 2013 – security was clearly the most important aspect to consider. The hacking of a bank's network may be troublesome for its clients, but a hack on a CIA-controlled cloud could result in a threat to national security.
AWS knew the CIA needed a massive amount of security, and therefore came up with an interesting solution. The company decided to integrate the agency's firewall into its public cloud service. The CIA is now receiving the cost-saving and scalability benefits of a public cloud, with the security it needs.
If Amazon wants to win a bank's trust, it'll need to highlight its work with the CIA. While the banks may opt for another security measure other than building their own firewall, this particular situation shows that AWS' services can be made safe for even the most sensitive information.
Keeping information private is a necessity for the CIA. Security is always a big concern in the cloud.
AWS is growing, get in while you can!
Although AWS isn't exactly new at this point, the service is growing at a rapid pace. Amazon landing even one major bank could very well be the tipping point, as other organizations with similar requirements begin to see the benefits of the cloud. Therefore, receiving computer based training in AWS can allow you to take advantage of this service's success.
Amazon is now attempting to wrangle in one of the most lucrative industries: banking. Christina Rexrode and Emily Glazer, contributors for The Wall Street Journal, stated that AWS is going after big names like Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase in an effort to show them that by outsourcing, their computing and storage budget could be severely reduced within the cloud.
When it comes to banking – and really any business in general – there are two major concerns for technological adoption: cost and security. Banks are literally built on the premise that money is extremely important, so obviously these industry leaders are first going to need assurance from AWS that the cloud can reduce their current budget.
This is by far the easier hurdle that Amazon will need to overcome if it wishes to land these banking institutions. Until now, banks had to handle their own data needs. This usually meant building their own data centers, which is costly to say the least. AWS would allow these banks to stop having to maintain these facilities, which translates to less overhead in terms of staffing and power consumption. What's more, AWS's cloud offers a level of scalability that can't be matched within a personally owned data center.
Once the cost benefits are hashed out, the real discussion can begin. Banks hold on to the private financial information of their clients, which means a breach of this sensitive data could be extremely detrimental to business. Security is a huge concern for the banking industry, and AWS is going to need to show these institutions that it has the ability to keep this information safe.
Thankfully for Amazon, AWS has already done some work with an organization that's known for its secrecy.AWS's relationship with the CIA shows service's security abilities
In 2013, AWS signed a deal with the CIA concerning their data sprawl. This $600 million contract was meant to help the agency develop and maintain a cloud that would enable cooperation between departments, according to The Atlantic. The intelligence community may be effective at gathering information, but it was having some major trouble sharing it between clandestine organizations. This meant that vitally important data was spread out between agencies, causing confusion as different sectors had to deal with a "missing puzzle piece" scenario.
Although money was a big factor here – the government was spending $8 billion on IT for the intelligence community in 2013 – security was clearly the most important aspect to consider. The hacking of a bank's network may be troublesome for its clients, but a hack on a CIA-controlled cloud could result in a threat to national security.
AWS knew the CIA needed a massive amount of security, and therefore came up with an interesting solution. The company decided to integrate the agency's firewall into its public cloud service. The CIA is now receiving the cost-saving and scalability benefits of a public cloud, with the security it needs.
If Amazon wants to win a bank's trust, it'll need to highlight its work with the CIA. While the banks may opt for another security measure other than building their own firewall, this particular situation shows that AWS' services can be made safe for even the most sensitive information.
Keeping information private is a necessity for the CIA. Security is always a big concern in the cloud.
AWS is growing, get in while you can!
Although AWS isn't exactly new at this point, the service is growing at a rapid pace. Amazon landing even one major bank could very well be the tipping point, as other organizations with similar requirements begin to see the benefits of the cloud. Therefore, receiving computer based training in AWS can allow you to take advantage of this service's success.
If you want to boost your career while learning about one of the most revolutionary technologies out there, check out the list of company IT training courses in the cloud offered by New Horizons Learning Group.
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- ...Amazon Web ServicesView all Amazon Web Services Course Offerings
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