Temenos SaaS - Partnership with Microsoft

TOPIC:

Initiative

Temenos SaaS - Partnership with Microsoft

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TEMENOS HEADQUARTERS SA

Objective Action

Temenos operates for 30 years and is the market leader of global banking software industry. Our purpose is to power a world of banking that creates opportunities for everyone.

ESG is essential for realizing our vision as a company to “make banking better” by helping the industry address the biggest challenges in our world.

Our clients demand the highest standards when it comes to risk, data, regulation, ESG and security management. Temenos SaaS delivers on these stringent needs to any financial institution in the world, while providing access to broad and deep market leading banking capabilities to compose exceptional banking experiences.

Temenos SaaS, powered by hyperscalers such as Microsoft, enables banks to streamline operations sustainably by migrating legacy IT infrastructure to public cloud and adopting a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. In order to meet the growing demand from banks for Temenos SaaS, we strategically partner with public cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure, with strong environmental agendas and commitment towards using 100% renewable energy and improving the energy efficiency of their infrastructure. By transitioning to flexible cloud-based infrastructure, we anticipate significant reductions in both our own and our clients’ energy use.

Temenos is collaborating with Microsoft to develop financial services offerings in the cloud to drive scalability, operational efficiency, sustainability and innovation.

Target Audience

In 2021, Temenos expanded collaboration with Microsoft to meet growing demand for the Temenos SaaS. Our collaboration focuses on Green Cloud initiatives to help banks see an immediate and significant reduction in their carbon footprint and support them in achieving their ESG goals.

Research commissioned by Microsoft estimates businesses using their infrastructure are up to 93% more energy-efficient and can result in up to 98% lower carbon emissions than operating their own datacenter. These savings are attributable to four key features of the Microsoft Cloud: IT operational efficiency, IT equipment efficiency, datacenter infrastructure efficiency, and renewable electricity.

While scope 3 can make up from 75% to 100% of a company’s total GHG emissions, less than 10% of companies can accurately measure it according to BCG. To comply with the growing climate-related regulations worldwide, banks need to spend valuable resources to calculate their scope 3 emissions.

In 2022, we launched Temenos Carbon Emissions Calculator on Temenos SaaS, an industry-first tool which enables banks using Temenos software on Microsoft Azure to effortlessly get their actual carbon footprint. Our SaaS customers can request through the cloud portal for a detailed annual carbon footprint report at no extra cost. The carbon footprint report helps banks to measure, manage and reduce their carbon footprint, so that they can reach their ESG targets as well as their net-zero plans.

In specific, Temenos Carbon Emissions Calculator enables banks using Temenos SaaS, powered by Microsoft Azure to easily monitor their:

direct carbon footprint from the use of Temenos SaaS
indirect carbon footprint from Temenos SaaS operations
carbon performance
carbon intensity (emissions per usage hour).

In 2024, Temenos announced the results of a sustainability benchmark for its cloud-native banking platform running on Microsoft Azure, demonstrating the efficiency to handle the variable demands of digital transactions while also supporting banks to meet their sustainability goals.

This benchmark shows the advances in Temenos’ leaner and more sustainable architecture to handle the variable demands of digital transactions while supporting banks to meet their sustainability goals.

As Temenos Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, commented:

“The sustainability benchmark on Microsoft Azure shows the unmatched speed and efficiency of Temenos’ cloud-native platform helping banks to decarbonize their operations and grow their businesses sustainably. Over the years Temenos has worked hard investing considerable R&D to get the best out of the cloud with a platform and solutions that are fully cloud-native. With a leaner and greener architecture, Temenos is by far the most sustainable way to run core banking in the cloud.”

Kalliopi Chioti, Chief Marketing and ESG Officer, Temenos, added:

“Compliance with climate regulation and meeting environmental targets have joined the list of reasons why banks are accelerating the shift to the cloud. Temenos is committed to helping our clients reach their own ESG targets, particularly through our cloud-native platform, enabling our clients to significantly reduce their carbon emissions. Further, with our Carbon Emissions Calculator, a free tool embedded within Temenos SaaS, we empower banks to track their direct and indirect cloud emissions from banking activities, helping measure progress towards sustainability goals and comply with growing climate regulations.”

Christian Sarafidis, Chief Executive EMEA Financial Services, Microsoft, said:

“We are thrilled to see our collaboration with Temenos continue to set new standards for core banking in the cloud. Temenos and Microsoft have a strategic relationship to meet the growing demand from banks for cloud and SaaS banking services. Together, with our combined expertise we are leading the transition to a more sustainable banking industry.”

According to a recent Economist Impact study of 300 global banking executives, more than half (51 percent) of survey respondents agree that banks will no longer own any data centers because they will have moved to public cloud in the next five years.

Duration

Description

Microsoft Azure

Impact on Society

Temenos' collaboration with Microsoft and its focus on sustainability in cloud computing brings significant benefits to the organization, directly measurable in multiple areas:

Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings: By leveraging Microsoft Azure’s green cloud initiatives, Temenos helps its clients transition from on-premises systems to cloud-native platforms, achieving substantial reductions in operational inefficiencies. According to Microsoft, businesses using Azure infrastructure can achieve up to 93% more energy efficiency and up to 98% lower carbon emissions compared to traditional data centers. These improvements translate into considerable savings for clients and for Temenos in terms of infrastructure and energy costs.
Innovation and Competitive Advantage: The launch of the Temenos Carbon Emissions Calculator, embedded in Temenos SaaS, allows banks to measure their carbon footprint accurately and provides a competitive edge in meeting growing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) requirements. By offering this innovative tool for free, Temenos strengthens client relationships and positions itself as a leader in the sustainable finance space, attracting more customers seeking eco-friendly solutions.
Environmental Impact and Compliance: From a 2021 baseline, Temenos has reduced the carbon impact of its software by over 50%, thanks to improved coding efficiency and a leaner architecture. This reduction helps clients reduce their carbon emissions, contributing to global climate goals and allowing both Temenos and its clients to meet stringent climate-related regulations. The organization's near-term science-based target to reduce its absolute Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 50% by 2030 aligns with global sustainability commitments, enhancing its reputation as a responsible corporate citizen.
Increased Cloud Adoption and Client Base Growth: Temenos’ strategic partnership with Microsoft has enabled it to scale its cloud-native banking services rapidly, driving growth in SaaS adoption. According to the Economist Impact Study, 51% of banking executives predict that banks will fully transition to public cloud platforms in the next five years. Temenos is positioned to capture this market shift, boosting its customer base and cloud-related revenues.
Sustainability Leadership and Brand Reputation: By integrating sustainability directly into its operations and client offerings, Temenos bolsters its brand as a sustainability leader in the banking industry. This leadership is showcased through initiatives like the sustainability benchmark, which highlights the efficiency of Temenos' cloud-native platform on Microsoft Azure, showcasing a 52% improvement in workload efficiency. The strong focus on decarbonizing banking operations not only aligns Temenos with global climate goals but also strengthens its brand in an increasingly eco-conscious marketplace.

In conclusion, Temenos' sustainable technology solutions and partnerships bring measurable benefits, such as cost savings, increased operational efficiency, enhanced compliance with global sustainability standards, and strengthened client relationships, all contributing to the company’s growth and leadership in the banking technology space.

Initiative Location

Working with Organization

Temenos Sustainability team, Temenos Product Team, Microsoft team

Workers Participation

Using Temenos SaaS our clients benefit from significant carbon efficiencies, not only from sustainable Temenos technology and operations (sustainability in the cloud), but also from running our software on sustainable platforms powered by hyperscalers, such as Microsoft (sustainability of the cloud).

Innovation and sustainability go hand in hand. Temenos SaaS incorporates both and creates environmental benefits for our customers leveraging sustainability in and of the cloud.

Sustainability in the cloud = Temenos technology + operations

From a 2021 baseline, and validated by GoCodeGreen, Temenos has reduced the carbon impact of its software by over 50%. Improving the performance with more efficient code and leaner architecture means less demand for infrastructure, less processing power needed and consequently less energy consumed and lower carbon emissions.

Temenos has recently announced a new sustainability benchmark for its cloud-native banking platform on Microsoft Azure, highlighting its efficiency in managing digital transaction demands while aiding banks in achieving sustainability goals. The benchmark, which used Temenos Retail Enterprise Services, simulated a client base of 25 million customers and 38 million accounts, processing 12 million loans on a single instance. This latest assessment revealed up to a 52% efficiency improvement in workload handling compared to the previous version, showcasing advances in Temenos’ architecture towards greater sustainability and efficiency.

Combined with Temenos sustainable operations, this brings added environmental benefits for banks choosing to deploy Temenos solutions on public cloud or as SaaS. We have already managed to achieve an impressive 31.3% reduction of our absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions vs 2019 baseline year and we aim to achieve a 50% reduction by 2030 as per Temenos officially validated near-term science-based target.

Sustainability of the cloud = Cloud hosting providers

Temenos continuously invests in its cloud-native platform to ensure it leverages the latest advances and innovations from hyperscalers. Coupled with the sustainability efforts of partners like Microsoft, we offer significant environmental benefits for banks deploying Temenos solutions on public cloud or as SaaS. Through Temenos SaaS, we help our customers to streamline direct operations sustainably by migrating legacy IT infrastructure to public cloud hyperscalers and adopting a Software as a Service (SaaS) model. The environmental benefits of this transition are massive and include reduced electricity usage and carbon emission reductions up to 95% compared to on premise alternatives.

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