In recent years we have seen an increasing focus by firms regarding their information security and this is an area which, I am confident to predict, will continue to grow as a priority for firms in 2021 and beyond.
Underpinned by increasingly stringent regulatory e.g. GDPR, European Banking Authority standards etc., and the regulator’s growing focus on Operational Resilience, the consequences for breaching information security obligations has never been higher, ranging from significant fines to reputational damage.
To meet these challenges, I am seeing an increasing trend for firms to review how they see technology deployed to meet their complex and innovative needs.
Firms’ historical preference for creating their own in-house processes and technology solutions continues to diminish as they increasingly turn to specialist providers who can fulfil their evolving needs including. However, in doing so, they bring three major expectations:
- Best of breed functionality – Current technologies supporting new ways of working and delivering rich user experience, flexibility and value.
- A partner to reliably share the burden – Robust and reliable enough to host their information and share the responsibility for safeguarding their valuable information.
- Cost effective – With the ever-present pressure on margins, reducing high levels of historic internal IT spend remains key when seeking the right technology partner.
Evidence of this is the due diligence firms now undertake, which goes far deeper than simply investigating a solution’s functional capability. Now, firms investigate the solution provider as much as the software!
In addition to the solution, firms’ internal IT and Procurement teams want to know about the solution providers’:
- Product roadmap – Plans to develop the solutions’ functionality and underpinning technology.
- Internal processes – Internal disciplines and standards within the firm, particularly those which relate to product development and product releases plus, importantly, any which could influence data security.
- Hosting arrangements – The data security, service standards and track record of the technology provider’s hosting partner.
Those technology firms who invest and can provide answers to questions to these, as well as providing a solution with a compelling set of functionality for end users, will themselves find extensive competitive advantage. And, being able to demonstrate that these needs in a world where borders continue to dissolve will also become increasingly critical to meet the needs of global players.
To meet these new challenges, Worksmart have invested significantly over recent years and will continue to do so. Ensuring top tier hosting capability underpinned by clear product roadmaps and the global ISO27001 security standard has enabled Worksmart to gain the trust of some of the largest global financial services organisations as their partner of choice for regulatory technology needs.
Read more on the related topic of technology and learn why so may firms are now leveraging the value of Regulatory Technologies along with improved cyber and data security.
As Managing Director of Worksmart, I am commitment to a sustained investment programme that will enable us demonstrate to our customers, existing and prospective, that we take their data and trust that we take care of their data, very seriously indeed.
That is my key prediction for 2021 and how I intend we at Worksmart respond.
If you would like to know more about how Worksmart’s solutions suite could help transform your response to people based regulation, contact our friendly and knowledgeable team on: 01908 613613 or email us on: info@worksmart.co.uk