Recently we ran a poll on LinkedIn to determine what was the most intriguing topic to expand on out of 1) Alternative Investments, 2) Front Office, 3) Standard Platform or 4) Everything as a Service. 41% of the votes were for the latter, so accordingly in today’s post we will expand on the burgeoning offering from SimCorp beyond the cloud.
The idea of sharing and mobilizing data platforms across many users has been a concept since the 1960s with timesharing; the sharing of computing resources across multiple users simultaneously. The cloud allowed a much larger and wider spread, global means of achieving the same timesharing notion. The trend in the market is to evolve from cumbersome on-premise solutions (yesterday) to cloud computing (today) and then to Software as a Service (tomorrow). You could argue that cloud solutions are already a thing of the past and we are now well into the age of Software as a Service. The goal of this concept is the idea of software being completely run externally so you can focus on your core business.
“Everything as a Service”(XaaS) is considered nirvana in software excellence. Be it infrastructure, data, calculations or issue resolutions, the goal is to be managed and presented to and for the customer for internal or external use in as accessible a format as possible. We expect that the journey beyond cloud computing for SimCorp focuses on API-driven solutions, data management via DataCare and eventually will take over more business functions in collaboration with partners such as Alkymi, IntelliBonds and State Street. Imagine a world where the overnight batch flow is monitored by SimCorp , gaps of missing information are filled and breaks are repaired for you and other such autonomous ways to optimise time and effort. SimCorp Dimension as a Service (SCDaas) is set to provide just this, the gradual off handing of some of the more meticulous processes, allowing them to be dealt with for you. Eventually we believe SimCorp intend for most processes to be performed externally, leaving you and your clients with the most accessible and understandable experience possible. In other words: outsource your SimCorp platform to SimCorp, let SimCorp run the daily process and much more while you keep access to the installation and your data.
In the modern age, where the pace has never been faster and business never more global, capacity, cost and time are detrimental impedances. The need for greater access to large and secure networks for buy-side operations is paramount, everything as a service is the perfect way to accommodate this. Also, the idea of almost every facet of your chosen software being externally managed will streamline the practical application of said software in untold ways. SCDaaS will be well-positioned for increasing demands and capacities and will ensure the future will not be limited by scale. Also no one knows the software as extensively as SimCorp themselves, in their safe hands you can be assured that the utmost care and efficiency will be implemented.
SimCorp’s journey to XaaS is still in its infancy running on the cloud, without much interference. They have started to formula peripheral services and offerings to process your data themselves based on your desired parameters. After that, overnight batch flows, reparative work and Datacare are adopted into the automated services. Eventually we expect SCDaaS will be running back and middle office function and constantly providing the user with its findings from within their given framework. SimCorp’s recent partnering with State Street highlights this. The ability to run back-office functions with SCDaaS will make business operations a much more streamlined experience.
SCDaaS also boasts being a more environmentally sound option; being part of shared servers run by Microsoft means less energy is used to run internet data centers. Figuratively, Microsoft data centers are up to 98% more carbon-efficient than regular enterprise data centers. This will likely reflect positively on the ESG rating of companies opting to utilize SimCorp’s beyond-cloud offerings. Furthermore this is only set to be even greater as Microsoft intends on becoming carbon-negative by 2030.
SimCorp has stated that they are moving from a software company to a SaaS company. With the future locked firmly in their sights, it will be interesting to see how SimCorp will go beyond the cloud and move into more services and business operations in the coming years and how fast. Will they be successful and poise themselves for great things? Or will this quietly die away? As our poll showed there definitely is great interest in this topic and we await with great anticipation what SimCorp will offer. If there is something you would like to see offered from SimCorp, drop us a line.