A Conversation with Union Bank of the Philippines on Cloud Migration – Cloud Blog – VMware

From breakout sessions, to the solution keynotes and exciting product launches, VMworld 2021 was packed with tons of great content. Among the many highlights were our customer conversations, in which we heard new stories about how customers around the globe use VMware technologies to reach unprecedented heights.

We heard from Dennis D. Omila, EVP and Chief Information
& Operations Officer of Union Bank of the Philippines, about his experience
driving industry-leading technological advancements in banking. Union Bank of
the Philippines has consistently been recognized as one of Asia’s leading banks
for profitability and efficiency – a direct result of embracing technological
innovations to empower their customers.

Despite UnionBank’s incredible progress, there’s one figure
that still stands out to the organization – almost 70% of people in the Philippines
are still “unbanked”, with limited to no access to banking services. One of
UnionBank’s biggest priorities is financial inclusion, ensuring that everyone
in the Philippines has access to banking regardless of their background. To
accomplish the task of providing access to all, they’ve prioritized four key
focus areas throughout their digital transformation journey: agile & hyperscale,
operational resilience, role transformation, and cost savings.

Agile & Hyperscale

Moving to DevSecOps has accelerated UnionBank’s journey to
the cloud by providing additional speed and agility in their operations. In
addition, powering full force towards public cloud has made accessing online
services such as digital account opening and mobile check uploading a seamless
experience for every customer, regardless of unexpected spikes in demand.

Operational Resilience

Being fully operational 24/7 and applying six sigma to security
measures is a critical part of UnionBank’s success. Long gone are the days of
banks closing at 5:30 pm each day – now, they believe banking services should
always be digitally accessible.

Role Transformation

There are new competencies, capabilities, and tools required
during this digital transformation journey. Ensuring that each team is equipped
with the right resources and support plays an essential role in the bank’s strategy.

Cost Savings

It’s a well-known fact that moving to the cloud can save organizations money, and UnionBank is no exception. By moving to the cloud, the organization has saved over 40% through reduced data center costs and improved operational efficiency.

How Cloud Adoption Will Shape the Future of UnionBank

Public cloud plays a crucial role in UnionBank’s technology
strategy, and they have committed to migrating hundreds of mission-critical
applications to public cloud – a forward-thinking decision that can reap bountiful
rewards if done successfully.

As opposed to refactoring and replatforming every single
application, which would be time-consuming and full of risk, UnionBank adopted
a hybrid cloud approach to migration with VMware. As UnionBank is already running
97% of their operations on private cloud by VMware, migrating to AWS is as simple
as it gets – no need for refactoring or replatforming. Simply moving applications
from their VMware stack on-premises the same stack running on AWS, maintaining
uptime, security, and networking, while gaining the economic and innovation
benefits of the public cloud.

Importance of Partnership

By leveraging VMware as a trusted advisor and partner
throughout the entire digital transformation process, UnionBank was able to
achieve results that would have been challenging if done alone. UnionBank
involved VMware early in the planning stages and beyond, aligning on a shared
purpose at the beginning and optimizing their cloud journey along the way. In addition,
board commitment was key. All stakeholders, partners, and management were
aligned early-on, increasing the chances of success dramatically.

Ultimately, Union Bank of the Philippines’s commitment to technological innovation and financial inclusion is empowering folks across the Philippines with access to banking services and financial confidence. To learn more about the successes and challenges of UnionBank’s digital transformation journey as they took hundreds of mission-critical applications to the cloud, watch here: