hamburger icon close icon
Azure File Storage

Azure Keeps Banking Customer Data Secure

Read Next:

Azure NetApp Files Enables Elite Enterprise Apps
Move NFS File Shares to Cloud
Why Should You Migrate Databases to Azure?
Cloud Sync Accelerates Cloud Migration

More about Azure File Storage

Subscribe to our blog

December 11, 2019

Topics: Azure NetApp Files 3 minute read

We’ve all been there: reading that email that’s notifying you of suspicious activity on your credit card. Your heart drops. You cancel your card, but by now the damage has been done. That’s why it’s imperative for banks to keep customer information safe.

That feeling is precisely why Spencer went into bank data services. He himself had been a victim of identity theft and had devoted the better part of the past 10 years to preventing fraud from hurting his customers. Because cloud security seemed, initially, somewhat oxymoronic, many banks had been hesitant to join the cloud. They could not use lower costs to justify the perceived high risks of public cloud. However, Spencer knew that many current cloud options offered encryption that made data even more secure.

He agreed that migrating to the cloud would be worth it, with the caveat that any service he would take on had to provide him with at-rest and in-motion encryption for cloud data.

Ensuring Customer Security in the Cloud

To start, Spencer’s team was using NFS file shares for its home directories, database files, and enterprise applications, and they needed a cloud that offered support for the protocol they were using. Secondly, he would need a system that allowed him to easily move all applications and customer data into the cloud. Spencer, always cautious in his approach, did his research. He felt that Azure offered the best range of capabilities and he immediately took action. Through his company’s cloud-first mandate in Azure, Spencer hoped to reduce costs, increase agility, and perhaps even enhance the security of customer data, as they have always done. At first, he moved only 4TB to the cloud. And he was impressed with Azure’s ability to check off the boxes. Although so many other banks were wary of this step forward, he continued to make strides that went against the proverbial grain. 

Having quieted both cost and security apprehensions, Azure delivered on all but one front; it could not deliver the performance that Spencer needed. And that single factor brought all crucial migration plans to a halt. Azure Cloud was nearly perfect, but if they expected to migrate 25TB-50TB+ to the cloud, they absolutely couldn’t sacrifice low latency.

Easily Move File Shares Off Premises With ANF

Spencer’s company had purchased on-premises storage from NetApp in the past. But, in light of this new cloud-first initiative, fresh cloud architects were brought in to ensure the success of the move to Azure. Those creative minds, working together, found Azure NetApp Files (ANF), which contributed to the performance and security of Azure. ANF’s performance took Spencer’s team by surprise, streamlining the cloud migration. ANF also offered dual-protocol support, meaning that his applications didn’t require any rearchitecting.

Now, Spencer has moved about 4TB to the cloud. As he continues in the pilot, he estimates 25TB-50TB of increased allocation. The ability to easily move their file shares off-premises became the largest benefit for Spencer’s team.

His company is continuing to create innovative products for their members with new apps in the cloud. All these new applications and data will be run on Azure and will rely on the flexibility and agility of Azure NetApp Files. Their future workloads will soon include SMB file shares in the cloud, too.

Want to Be a Cloud Game Changer?

Register for Azure NetApp Files, see what the excitement is about, and start preparing your cloud-first announcement.
Carl Agers III

Cloud Data Services

-