Standard Chartered taps Broadcom for private cloud overhaul

Standard Chartered has selected Broadcom to support a private cloud overhaul of its global banking infrastructure across 54 markets.

The bank has moved infrastructure delivery to a software-defined private cloud environment built on VMware Cloud Foundation, Broadcom's cloud infrastructure platform. It described the programme as a long-term strategic commitment supporting core banking, payments and digital services.

About 70% of Standard Chartered's global infrastructure footprint is already running on the new architecture. The shift has cut infrastructure deployment times from weeks to a day and introduced a more consistent operating model across its international network.

The arrangement highlights how large banks continue to rebuild internal technology estates around private cloud systems rather than relying solely on public cloud providers. For globally active lenders, resilience, security controls and regulatory consistency remain central in deciding where critical workloads run.

Standard Chartered operates across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and other international markets, and its technology estate must support round-the-clock services across multiple jurisdictions. That creates pressure to maintain common standards while meeting local regulatory and security requirements.

Private cloud

Under the new setup, the bank has standardised its infrastructure on a fully virtualised environment. Broadcom said VMware Cloud Foundation embeds security controls in the infrastructure layer and is designed to provide uninterrupted availability for key services.

The companies framed the work as part of a broader modernisation of the systems underpinning customer-facing banking products, including infrastructure for transaction processing, digital channels and internal operations.

John Sharratt, Global Head of Technology and Infrastructure at Standard Chartered, said: "Standardizing a fully virtualized software-defined infrastructure across our global operations enables Standard Chartered to meet the evolving demands of our clients while strengthening our technological core with the responsiveness, resilience and regulatory compliance that global banking demands. Our client-centric, long-term investments with global service providers, such as Broadcom, strengthen our ability to deliver always-on banking services in an ever changing and dynamic landscape, while accelerating innovation with a secure private cloud foundation."

The deployment also reflects Broadcom's push to deepen ties with large regulated organisations following its acquisition of VMware. Financial institutions have been among the most closely watched customers as Broadcom reshapes VMware's product and commercial approach around larger strategic accounts.

Banking demands

For banks, private cloud architectures can offer tighter control over data location, system configuration and security policy than more distributed approaches. They can also make it easier to apply common standards across large internal estates, though they require substantial investment in design, migration and operations.

Standard Chartered said the updated platform is intended to support future growth and further development of digital banking services. It also linked the work to operational resilience, a theme that has become more prominent as supervisors place greater scrutiny on outages, third-party dependencies and recovery planning.

Broadcom presented the agreement as evidence that large financial institutions still see a role for internally controlled cloud environments for critical workloads. It said the bank's implementation is aimed at a more automated private cloud operating model.

Krish Prasad, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the VMware Cloud Foundation Division at Broadcom, said: "Global financial institutions require infrastructure that combines resilience, security and operational simplicity at scale. Standard Chartered is at the forefront of digital banking innovation, and we are proud to support their journey toward a highly automated, AI-driven, modern private cloud with VMware Cloud Foundation."