Application of cloud computing in financial services: an agent-oriented modelling approach

Abstract

Purpose Cloud computing is rapidly becoming the new norm of doing business. Lately, the extent of virtualization has enabled full-fledged cloud solution to become affordable, quantitatively and/or qualitatively. The purpose of this study is to explore the former in detail. In this paper, implementation of cloud-based services in the financial services, intermediaries and banking industry where security has always been the greatest concern are studied through actor-based stakeholder modelling. Drivers for adoption, benefits and trade-offs and challenges have been discussed in detail through a hypothetical comprehensive case study of a bank. Design/methodology/approach An actor-dependency-based technique for analyzing and modelling requirements prior to changes and charting out roadmap and rationale behind it all has been used. Through the use of i* modelling, dependencies and relationships between various stakeholders have been studied. Further, how decision makers in the financial services industry evaluate, consolidate and finally migrate to a new architecture is also explored. Findings Two hypothetical use cases on a hypothetical bank referred to as “The Bank” illustrate the technique and possible roadmap for implementation. Originality/value To the best of knowledge in the public domain, no similar work has been carried out with the perspective of modelling stakeholders and change management configuration in the financial services using cloud. This approach is valuable for augmenting technological advancements with business insights and spotting value in synergies of the sectors whenever and wherever apparent.