PKO Bank Polski on the way to the cloud

2020.05.07

PKO Bank Polski is going through yet another stage of its digital transformation, preparing for migration of its IT architecture to the National Cloud.
The aim of the project is to provide access to state-of-the-art business and technological solutions, attainable only in the computational cloud. This will allow for better effectiveness and pace of IT implementations while maintaining a high level of security and developing competences of our employees.
PKO Bank Polski is the originator and co-founder of the National Cloud Operator company, which, within one year from launching of its operation, entered into a strategic partnership with Google and Microsoft.

PKO Bank Polski has pursued its digitalization objectives, included in the “PKO Banking Platform” strategy launched in the autumn of 2019, and it is getting ready for a migration of its IT architecture to the National Cloud. In this manner, the Bank intends to provide itself and its customers with an innovative, secure and cost-effective development environment. As a result, the Bank, as well as its customers, will have access to the same technological potential as their competitors in countries, in which cloud-based services are used on a much broader scale.

The banking development model implemented so far, based on our own IT infrastructure, is no longer effective. Implementation of subsequent digital solutions in this model takes too long and is too costly. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many signs suggested that broader use of cloud-based services was necessary to maintain the digitalization pace. Now, when the banking sector has shifted quickly from the branch-remote to remote-branch model, digitalization will have to increase its pace even more, which means that broader use of cloud-based services by banks is simply inevitable. A change in the IT model is a component of our strategy PKO Banking Platform, launched in the autumn of 2019.”

- said Zbigniew Jagiełło, the President of the Management Board of PKO Bank Polski

PKO Bank Polski uses selected services of the NCO. First we established 11 thousand workstations for banking consultants in the cloud, which are being launched right now. Thanks to strategic partnerships of our National Cloud Operator company, all conditions have been met for migration of the banking IT systems to the cloud. Having access to the Google and Microsoft Azzure cloud platforms through our company, we can now safely enter the path to the cloud. At present, we are transferring the heart of our IT banking infrastructure - Alnova - to a platform, which is cloud-friendly. We want to make sure that in three years at the latest, the key business IT systems of the bank will operate in the computational cloud based on a hybrid architecture.”

said Adam Marciniak, the Vice President of the Management Board of PKO Bank Polski

PKO Bank Polski - the Road to Cloud project

Strategic partnerships of the National Cloud Operator with Google and Microsoft will aid the Bank’s transfer from the traditional IT model to a cloud-based one. Thanks to these partnerships, all prerequisites have been met for safe implementation of the Road to Cloud project. PKO Bank Polski is in the process of transfering the heart of its infrastructure - the Alnova system - to a cloud-friendly platform in order to be able to take advantage of these opportunities in the future. The Bank wants to make sure that in three years at the latest, the key business IT systems of the bank will operate in the computational cloud based on a hybrid architecture. A hybrid cloud is a solution, which provides for simultaneous use of public cloud resources and securing of resources in a private environment. Thanks to this combination, it is possible to retain flexibility associated with cloud-based solutions and the highest standard of security. The Road to Cloud project of PKO Bank Polski is about using such method e.g. in the banking mobile app IKO, which will allow for dynamic and safe development of new services for our customers.

A significant component of preparations for implementation of the Road to Cloud project was a detailed assessment of possibilities with regard to application of cloud-based solutions at the bank and analysis of knowledge and experience gathered by financial institutions around the world in the course of similar processes. Thanks to this approach, PKO Bank Polski has prepared a detailed map for building of the IT solutions on the basis of the hybrid cloud (Road to Cloud). The key objective of this project is to build an additional business value for the bank’s customers. Other objectives defined by the company in the context of implementation of cloud-based solutions is better access to innovative business solutions, ensuring a flexible and scalable infrastructure, making it possible to increase the pace of implementation of new projects and development of employee competences with regard to technologies that are only available in the computational cloud. Experience of the Bank shows that use of cloud-based services makes it possible to achieve much better effects in use of advanced data analytics and machine-based learning to develop the product and service range, which matches the needs and expectations of customers.

PKO Bank Polski has been using selected services of the NCO for a year now. First, the Bank decided to implement solutions for dynamic creation and scaling of its testing and development environments. Another big project was development of 11 thousand cloud-based virtual workstations for banking consultants, which are currently being launched. The consulting workstation virtualization is an example of cost and operational effectiveness in use of cloud-based services.

PKO Bank Polski and the Polish Development Fund have provided Polish companies with access to digitalization

The Road to Cloud project is based on services offered by the National Cloud Operator, established in the autumn of 2018 together by PKO Bank Polski and the Polish Development Fund. The aim of its establishment was to develop cloud-based services for Polish enterprises and to provide them with the same state-of-the-art solutions, which are available to their competitors in countries, in which as many as 70 percent of all companies use cloud-based services.

After more than one year from launching of its operations, the National Cloud is today the most specialized supplier of computational cloud solutions on the Polish market. It operates in the multi-cloud model, offering its own products on the National Cloud Platform, as well as solutions of global public cloud providers. This combination allows clients to choose freely from the available cloud solution adaptation solutions. The NCO assists them in optimizing the IT processes and costs, reducing the project implementation times and enhancing their effectiveness. The NCO renders services of migration and transformation of the IT architecture. It also offers consulting on selection of advanced data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine-based learning solutions, which are optimum for a given trade and stage of development.

The activity of the NCO is based on the foundation of advanced digital security. The NCO operates on the basis of Polish law and ensures full regulatory compliance, which is particularly significant for entities subject to specific legal conditions, including the location of data. Cyber security solutions used in development of the NCO services will allow Polish companies to enhance their digital security standards. Thanks to its scale and professional nature of its activity, the NCO may obtain the best experts on the market, which facilitates development of advanced security tools.

The COVID-19 pandemic has enforced an increase in the pace of digitalization

The necessity to limit social interactions due to the COVID-19 pandemic enforces an increase in the pace of digitalization processes of companies, and cloud-based services may help them to build a significant competitive advantage. This primarily applies to basic processes that ensure continuity of operation of the organization, such as remote work, remote communication or managerial processes based on video or voice technologies. The new conditions also enforce a change in the approach to continuity of implementation of critical processes, such as operation of production systems and processes. The isolation requirements lead to increase in interest in remote purchase of products and services, which also enforces provision of a full range of remote customer services, remote verification of identity and confirmation of documents by using electronic signatures.

Under these conditions, the pace of response of organizations to changes in customer behaviors and business processes plays an important role. Use of traditional IT solutions in such situation may turn out to be insufficient. In a traditional model, as opposed to cloud-based solutions, processes require planning in advance, making it more difficult to respond flexibly and to adjust the resources to the current needs of the enterprise.

***

PKO Bank Polski is the undisputable leader of the Polish banking sector. In first half of 2020, its consolidated net profit amounted to PLN 1,3 bilion (the largest in the Polish banking sector) and the value of assets reached over PLN 377 billion. The Bank is the basic provider of financial services for all customer segments, achieving the highest shares in the deposit market (18.4 percent), loans (17.6 percent), leasing market (11.2 percent) and in the market of investment funds not dedicated (22.2 percent). With over 9.46 million payment cards, the bank is the largest debit and credit card issuer in Poland with a market share of over 21%. Thanks to the development of digital tools, including the IKO application, which has in the end of third quater of 2019 - 4,7 million active applications, PKO Bank Polski has become the most mobile bank in Poland. The Capital Group's companies strengthen the Bank's strong position. The Brokerage House of PKO Bank Polski is a leader in terms of the number and value of IPO and SPO transactions on the capital market.

Szymon Pinderak

Press Center

prasa@pkobp.pl

+48 22 521 53 85

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