BBVA is collaborating with Red Hat on the introduction of an open source multi-cloud-based operating environment from which to further its digital agenda.
The new IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service) and PaaS-based (platform-as-a-service) platform by Red Hat will enable BBVA to focus on developing applications that can support the heavy demands of global digital bank services and provide customers with the service and information they want and when it is needed, says the bank's head of engineering, Ricardo Moreno.
"We are facing a new scenario that requires keeping the customer at the center of everything we do, and technology is one of the key levers to tackle this transformation process,” he says. “This collaboration agreement with Red Hat will help us to capitalise on the opportunities offered by cloud computing technologies, in order to continue making strides in our process of becoming a more flexible and scalable digital bank.”
The announcement was foreshadowed by the Spanish bank's chairman Francisco González at an International Finance meeting in Madrid yesterday, when he urged banks to start working on the progressive migration of their technologies to the cloud, "the sooner the better, to benefit from the substantial cost savings that this technology enables".
The cloud technology agreement, which turns Red Hat into a priority partner for BBVA, is part of a series of alliances that bank is aiming to forge with strategic partners. Earlier this year, BBVA announced its first such global alliance with Cisco to cover its global networking needs.