FeaturesOutsourcing

He said that financial firms were worried most about an enforced lack of agility, as IT budgets and HR budgets were under constant threat despite booming needs. If highly automated, standardized service models like private cloud let some of that pressure off, they were likely to find a warmer welcome than switching to public cloud models, at least for the near term.

"There is a much stronger focus on risk, both for compliance and to keep themselves solvent," said John Barr, financial sector analyst at The 451 Group, via email. Barr also said that the people clamoring for more technology might not be the ones with their hands on the budget at these big firms, and that also added to the pressure.

Barr said he expected increased use of private cloud software within the industry, but vendors hopeful for a gold rush would be wise to watch their ambitions. Cloud is neat, and banks clearly need help with their IT demands, he said, "but whether there are big budgets for increased IT spending… that isn't clear."