Adapting for Uncertainty – a research brief from Kapronasia and Equinix

The recent pandemic has been an extreme example of financial institutions (FIs) finding themselves blindsided by disruptive events. But meeting unexpected demands is a constant across all aspects of an FI’s business. Customer priorities can also shift according to economic and environmental circumstances, necessitating FIs to respond by providing customers the ability to choose how and where they want to transact – without encountering exorbitant costs, and ensuring data security remains paramount. This paper was written on the basis of the Adapting for Uncertainty webinar from Kapronasia in collaboration with Equinix.

To prosper in this rapidly changing environment, FIs need dynamic capabilities which can be adapted quickly, to launch new services by innovating and collaborating with new partners – even where no common infrastructure exists.

As FIs survey the evolving landscape characterized by rapid shifts in competition, demand, technology, and regulations, some changes may be anticipated. Examples of such would include the emergence of banking-as-a-service, BigTechs increasingly offering financial services, as well as insurers switching to usage-based coverage models and streamlining operations through the use of AI/ML. While FIs cannot be sure of the precise trajectory of these developments, these are nevertheless on their radars.

There are also the grey rhino or black swan events which FIs either ignore or do not see coming. While FIs cannot predict what exactly these will look like, they must be able to respond nimbly and quickly when the unexpected does arise.

For FIs to truly thrive when surrounded by change, they will need to become truly agile organizations. To do this successfully they will need to leverage the digital agility which comes through hybrid cloud and network edge infrastructures.