Unique IT Challenges Financial Services Providers Face Today
June 19th, 2018 by admin
Financial services providers find their IT challenges list is always growing because of security issues, employee needs, customer protection, regulatory laws and business requirements. Keeping up with IT concerns is important not just because failing to do so means lost business opportunities — but also, the financial services industry can incur substantial penalties over failure.
Performance Challenges
The large amount of data and secure nature of that data create a heap of unique challenges for the financial services industry. While the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy is a best practice, relying on it for too long creates situations in which older hardware and software can't perform fast enough or are incompatible with newer platforms. Aging infrastructure can cause performance and compatibility issues.
Financial services providers often rely on high-capacity internet and network infrastructure to move large amounts of data quickly and securely. When that infrastructure no longer performs it's time to migrate to something that does. IT services can be an invaluable asset when migrating, implementing and performance-tuning new hardware and software.
Compliance Challenges
IT in the financial services industry faces unique challenges from regulation and technology; the challenges are so great that a substantial share of the IT budget can go toward meeting government mandates.
On the technology side, many businesses rely on legacy systems that either need to be better protected because of known vulnerabilities or migrated to newer and more secure platforms.
Businesses often learn about issues and challenges from a Securities and Exchange Commission audit. It is crucial to comply with making changes in order to address identified concerns from the audit. IT addresses much of the regulatory compliance challenges through technology. An IT services provider can help a financial services provider address compliance issues, with solutions for everything from backup practices to email security.
Security Challenges
The financial services industry works with both confidential information and finances, which offers a very desirable target for hackers. Security challenges are the biggest and most important issue facing financial services providers in the IT realm. In particular, the financial industry is the top target for Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which aim to disable online services for customers and staff alike. Businesses need to implement defensive technology that mitigates these attacks when they happen (as opposed to if they happen).
Additionally, the industry needs to protect customer data and avoid breaches, as there are always new security concerns to address. That means IT staff must keep up with software patches on all levels while also avoiding breaking features from updates with the goal of preventing attacks. Aging infrastructure is often the root of cyber-attack vulnerabilities and may need to be replaced for data protection.
Financial providers need to watch out for phishing and ransomware attacks on employees. The financial industry is on the receiving end of 8.5 percent of all phishing attacks, so IT staff must address these concerns on the technical and personal levels to avoid allowing impersonators to access private information. Ransomware is also a major concern in the industry. This increases the emphasis on keeping software patched to avoid attacks and maintaining reliable backups to minimize data loss if any attacks succeed.
If your Bay Area financial services provider business is looking to streamline its integrations with expert help, ATS is here to help put years of professional expertise to use. Contact us today to learn more.
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