Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services will provide the platform for a sophisticated customer experience
As part of its digital transformation, Bank of Queensland Group (BOQ) has joined Microsoft in a 5-year strategic partnership to simplify the bank’s digital ecosystem and deliver improved outcomes for customers.
Under the new deal, BOQ will progressively transition its six data centres to the Microsoft Azure Cloud by 2025.
Simplifying infrastructure to a single cloud-platform will provide the Group with greater efficiencies and enable greater use of automation and other cloud-native capabilities to improve customer experience and aide faster development of new features.
The partnership will see BOQ become the first Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services customer in Australia and New Zealand. Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services will provide the platform for a sophisticated customer experience layer which will connect into the bank’s data hosted in the Azure Cloud.
The new platform will allow for a more in-depth view of the customer journey across the Group’s brands and channels, enabling the development of more personalised tools that enable customers to manage their money exactly how, when and where they want.
BOQ Group CEO and Managing Director, George Frazis, said the partnership with Microsoft was a major milestone for the Group’s digital transformation.
“Our vision is to build social capital with our customers and the community, and partnerships are critical to achieving this. We are excited to have such a strong partner in Microsoft to support us in building the digital bank of the future,” Frazis said.
“Microsoft are long-established tech innovators, and, for BOQ, Microsoft Azure platform and Cloud for Financial Services environment will offer new opportunities to drive simplification and improve the experience of our customers and bankers.”
As part of the landmark agreement, Microsoft and BOQ will partner to co-design solutions that can be deployed within the Group.
A team of Microsoft global and regional executives, supported by US and locally based engineering teams will partner with BOQ throughout its digital transformation.
BOQ Group Chief Information Officer, Craig Ryman, said the partnership would help to drive a culture of innovation across the banking Group.
“Key to our transformation is continued uplift in capability and skills within our own teams, and as part of the partnership BOQ will work with Microsoft to co-design training and learning programs for our people,” Ryman said.
“It is a terrific opportunity to continue to strengthen our engineering capability and provide greater opportunities within the technology at BOQ.”
