8 Ways Automation Expands the Reach of Small Banks
Small and regional banks can leverage automated code analysis, CI/CD, backup and recovery tools, and more to expand the reliability and quality of their services.
Why It Matters: Enterprise banks have a massive market share, making it more difficult for regional banks to compete. Increasing productivity with automated DevOps tools expands their capabilities and makes it easier to provide comparable services to their customers.
- In 2023, there were over 4,400 banks in the United States.
- Banks are among the industries most highly targeted by cybercriminals, making data security a major consideration.
Here are eight ways automated DevOps tools expand the reach of small and regional banks:
- Faster Time-to-Market
- Scalability
- Strengthened Data Security
- Cost Reduction
- Better Customer Experience
- Stronger Insights for Decision-Making
- Improved Operational Efficiency
- Expedited Disaster Recovery
1. Faster Time-to-Market
Reducing the amount of time it takes to introduce new products and capabilities helps banks of all sizes directly address the needs of their customers.
Automated code analysis tools and CI/CD pipelines enable small banks to develop, test, and deploy new features and services fast and efficiently.
This speed helps small banks stay competitive with larger financial institutions and be more responsive to customer needs.
2. Scalability
Every business aims to grow. Regional banks are no different. And when this happens, you need your IT environment to grow along with you.
Automated DevOps tools allow small banks to scale their operations seamlessly, handling increased transaction volumes and customer demand.
Upgraded capacity is accomplished without the need to hire more team members or drastically increase operational costs.
3. Strengthened Data Security
The financial sector is one of the industries most frequently targeted by cybercriminals. Combine this fact with the level of sensitivity related to the data contained within banking systems, and you have a heightened need for strong data security measures.
Automated scans of your Salesforce environment can verify proper permissions settings, usage reports, and other security scans to ensure your platform is protected.
These scans help small banks adhere to regulatory requirements more efficiently, reducing the risk of fines and improving trust with customers.
4. Cost Reduction
Small banks need to maximize efficiency in how they delegate their resources. The ability to reduce costs in any department ultimately benefits the entire organization.
By automating routine tasks, small banks can reduce the need for large IT teams and lower operational costs, allowing them to invest in other areas.
Automated code analysis tools reduce the time spent testing and reviewing code, lowering the cost of each DevOps project and maximizing ROI.
5. Better Customer Experience
Faulty applications and updates lead to frustrated customers. Avoiding these negative scenarios reinforces a small bank’s position as a leader and fosters goodwill from their users.
Automated processes ensure consistent delivery of services, reducing downtime and improving the overall customer experience.
This consistency helps build and maintain customer loyalty.
6. Stronger Insights for Decision-Making
Data-driven decisions are the best way for small and regional banks to grow in a meaningful way. However, it can be incredibly time-consuming to manually gather this data on a frequent basis.
Automation enables more efficient data collection and analysis.
This information provides small banks with valuable insights into customer behavior, market trends, and operational performance.
7. Improved Operational Efficiency
Efficient processes are more cost-effective and repeatable. Small banks that are able to streamline processes in this way position themselves for a more sustainable future.
Automation streamlines repetitive tasks such as software deployment, infrastructure management, and monitoring, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors.
CI/CD tools, automated code analysis tools, and other DevOps options provide the support small and regional banks need to compete with larger organizations.
8. Expedited Disaster Recovery
There is no way to completely guard against system outages. When they occur, banks of all sizes need to have a plan in place to protect and recover sensitive system data.
Automated backup and recovery processes ensure small banks can quickly recover from outages or security breaches, maintaining service availability and protecting customer data.
A comprehensive Salesforce DevSecOps platform enables small and regional banks to further protect their systems while also increasing productivity across departments.
Next Step…
nCino is a leading bank operating system used by more than 1,800 financial institutions. It offers a powerful way to streamline processes and introduce new capabilities.
Read our blog, 7 Things Banks Can Do Today to Streamline nCino Deployments, to learn more about getting the most from your software development pipeline.
FAQs
Which DevOps tools will provide the greatest returns for small and regional banks?
Reducing errors and streamlining processes are two great factors for seeing quick returns from investing in automation. Automated code analysis tools are perfectly suited to provide these results with immediate alerts to developers when an error is detected. This enables developers to fix problems in real time, avoiding future rework and eliminating errors in later stages of the DevOps pipeline, when they’re more expensive to fix. CI/CD automation also works to streamline processes and eliminate errors by automating time-consuming manual tasks and introducing multiple layers of testing.
What challenges might small banks face when adopting DevOps automation?
Limited resources are a major challenge for small and regional banks to overcome when adopting DevOps automation. Integrating new tools and processes can be complex and may require significant changes to existing workflows, which can strain smaller teams. Budget constraints can limit their ability to invest in advanced tools and training. Additionally, legacy systems often pose compatibility issues, making it difficult to integrate modern DevOps practices. Integrating security and compliance considerations alongside these changes adds another layer of complexity. Teams must carefully plan their approach and utilize incremental implementations to see the benefits of these powerful tools.
What are the best practices for small banks to integrate security into their DevOps pipeline?
Small banks should adopt a “shift left” approach to data security, incorporating security measures early in the development process. This includes automated security testing tools for code analysis and vulnerability scanning for early detection of security issues. Access controls like multifactor authentication (MFA) and the principle of least privilege should be implemented. Overall, these measures need to be monitored over time to ensure success.
