Cisco DNA for Financial Services: The Answer is in the Network

How can financial services companies meet the competing pressures to speed up digitization, comply with every increasing regulation and reduce costs?

The answer is in the network – the digital ready, self-learning, self-healing and secure network.

Running a bank or insurance company is becoming increasingly difficult and risky due to the proliferation of digital devices, the industrialization of cybercrime, the pressure to move faster in a digital age and the wave of new regulation coming down the track.

The answer to most of these challenges is in the digital ready network – a software-defined network with inbuilt end-to-end security, a network that can be automated, a network with analytics and assurance built in, a network where policy can be implemented and monitored in real time – essentially the network as a sensor and enforcer.

A Network Intuitive

Think of it like a railway system – you can have the brightest, smartest and potentially fastest trains in the world, but without state of the art rails, signaling and points you may as well be running a steam train.

So what is different about a digital ready network?

It allows you to quickly and easily configure the network, allowing new segmentation protocols.

It has Cybersecurity embedded across the network, and that in-built intelligence allows you to respond quickly to new threats.

Because it is software defined, it is scalable and more automated.

It has embedded best practices to reduce set up times.

It has an enterprise level identity service engine – built for a world of IOT devices.

It provides end-to-end visibility and analytics, which provide insights and predict events before they happen.

It provides more automation, reducing the need for manual intervention, thereby reducing OPEX costs.

In short – it enables automation, speed, and agility and this ultimately reduces costs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJF1Em5lMlU

If you are outside of IT, why should you care about any of this?

Chief Executive Officer – you can prove to your shareholders and regulators that your digital strategy is built on a solid foundation and complies with latest regulations.

Chief Financial Officer – you can identify how to significantly reduce your IT operations costs.

Chief Digital Officer– you will have digital rails on which to build new customer applications, knowing that security and access control can be delivered quickly and at a reasonable cost.

Chief Data Officer – you can segment your data network and prove compliance with GDPR.

Chief Operating Officer – you can demonstrate in real time to a regulator that you can set, implement and monitor data network policy and produce the reports to prove it.

Chief Risk Officer – you can protect the business more effectively and reduce time to cyber breach detection from 100 days (average) to 4-6 hours (best in class).

Admittedly, this isn’t the sexy end of digital transformation – where so much time has been spent on developing new customer facing apps, developing new digital garages, working with Fintechs etc. But without basic fundamentals such a having a digital ready network, digital transformation will inevitably grind to a halt (or crash in a major cyber attack). However, get the basic rights and we can truly imagine a connected world, with new banking models driven by Open Banking and new levels of security, speed, and agility.

To learn more about what Cisco is doing in this area and our new Digital Network Architecture (DNA) announcement visit DNA for Financial Services.

Press Release: A Network Intuitive