Independent Banker - May 2021 - 50

digital
transformation
doesn't mean
simply adding a
web interface to
existing back-end
components. It
means moving from legacy software
and infrastructure to modern
cloud-based ecosystems. This
simultaneously erases hardware,
software and networking maintenance
debt, while increasing agility,
resilience and security, says Robert
O'Connor, chief information security
officer at Neocova, a St. Louis-based
technology provider.
" How do you protect systems that
are 20, 30 or 40 years old against
new threats that are evolving every
business continuity processes that
protect bank services- " more than
any single financial institution could
achieve or afford on its own, " he says.
Outsourcing to the cloud also
relieves the pressure to recruit
and retain IT talent-a particular
challenge for community banks in
small towns and rural areas. That
said, not just any cloud provider
will do.
" Community banks should vet their
choice of cloud providers against
the talent that builds, runs and
secures those cloud environments
respectively, " Wetherington says.
" That talent should also understand
the unique regulatory requirements of
our industry and have a proven track
record of compliance. "
Perhaps most importantly,
migrating to the cloud enables a
community bank to further focus
on " the business of banking, " says
Ryan James, president and CEO of
$170 million-asset Surety Bank in
DeLand, Fla.
" Moving a solution to the cloud requires
establishing connectivity between the
core and the service in the cloud. "
-Keith Fulton, Fiserv
day? " he says. " [Moving to the
cloud] enables you to put more
resources into new features that solve
customers' security and business
needs rather than maintaining
aging systems. "
There are a number of benefits
to moving to a cloud-based system,
according to the community banks
and experts we spoke to. One is an
increase in business resiliency, says
Lee Wetherington, senior director of
strategy at Jack Henry & Associates
Inc. in Monett, Mo. Cloud service
providers typically invest substantially
in robust disaster recovery and
48 Q ICBA Independent Banker Q May 2021
For example, James says, using
a cloud-based solutions provider
may mean that a community bank
doesn't have to be involved with the
continuous management of climatecontrolled
server rooms or server
operating system life cycles.
Easing into the cloud
Many community banks may be
hesitant to migrate applications to the
cloud, particularly their core systems,
simply because they lack familiarity
with cloud-based core systems. They
may be unsure how they work, how
secure they are or how flexible they
are, says Larry McClanahan, chief
product officer at Nymbus, a banking
technology solutions provider based
in Miami.
" Typically, the biggest challenge is
the education process, " he adds.
Bankers may assume that they
have to move all of their applications
at once, says Shawn Eftink, product
manager of managed services at
Computer Services, Inc. in Fort
Independent Banker - May 2021

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