UBS strengthens cloud partnership with Microsoft
UBS and Microsoft have expanded their existing partnership to accelerate the Swiss banking giant’s move to the cloud over the next five years.
Microsoft and UBS strengthen cloud partnership
The bank intends to host more than 50% of its applications on Microsoft Azure, which is now UBS’s primary cloud platform. The move will strengthen the firm’s “cloud-first” strategy which has been ongoing since 2018.
The partnership is now also set to go beyond cloud services to include the co-development of innovations and greater collaboration in areas such as carbon reduction and other sustainability goals.
In some use cases, moving certain tech platform workloads to Azure has resulted in cuts to energy consumption by up to 30%.
UBS and Microsoft have also co-developed the Carbon Aware API, an open-source solution that provides recommendations on how to schedule workloads that require heavy compute power during times when clean, renewable or low-carbon sources of electricity are most available.
UBS chief digital and information officer Mike Dargan says the firm’s cloud strategy has “fundamentally changed” the way the business operates, “allowing us to reinvigorate our technology estate and reimagine how we build applications for our clients”.
“The developments and learnings that stem from this partnership will benefit the financial services industry and beyond,” Dargan adds.
