Banks and other financial service organizations must remain in compliance with a wide range of constantly revised regulations. Technological advances have also added to the concerns company leaders face, including protecting their customers’ personal data and privacy. As these challenges evolve, more and more financial services organizations are turning to managed IT services providers to manage their data and regulatory issues.
Benefits of Managed IT Services for Financial Institutions
Managed IT services, like 24/7 infrastructure monitoring and support, help meet the financial institution’s IT requirements. They help banks monitor and regulate systems and resources and ensure they meet specific standards. Every Managed Services Provider (MSP) offers a unique set of services for financial institutions and delivers a range of benefits:
1. Managed IT Services Helps With Compliance and Personal Data Protection
Financial services employees face numerous compliance and personal data protection challenges, especially in these days of international markets, emerging cloud technology, and massive financial-related application growth. Company leaders must manage the difficulties of finding appropriate personnel to manage their IT services, and many must decide whether to outsource the work or maintain in-house IT departments.
Compliant record storage — whether in the cloud or through on-premise storage solutions — adds to the additional complications that surround shared data and data-in-transit safety. This predicament is likely to worsen as time goes on because emerging digital banking services such as increased lending, expanded product offerings, and additional regulations will likely create additional digital security challenges.
2. Managed IT Services Help Prevent Security Breaches
Financial company decision-makers must keep up with demand for new services while remaining in compliance with constantly evolving regulations. Emerging online and mobile banking applications present additional challenges because they can contain hidden vulnerabilities that might adversely affect institutions’ existing data security protocols. The difficulty for financial services organizations is to balance the drive for innovation with their customers’ strict security requirements.
During the past several months, those in the financial sector witnessed numerous challenges in the marketplace — particularly pertaining to data security breaches. In July 2016, a disgruntled employee sent malware code to 10 of financial giant Citibank’s Global Control Centers. The attack caused nine centers to crash and drove 90% of the bank’s networks offline.
Incidents like the Citibank debacle are likely to increase in number; technology improvements often lead to better hacking, resulting in additional breaches. Financial institution leaders need to have strong IT infrastructures in place to ensure they limit their breach risks as much as possible.
4. Managed IT Services Enable Cost Savings
Building and maintaining a competent IT department requires significant investment. Outsourcing your IT needs to an established Managed Service Provider (MSP) saves money, time, and resources, allowing more focus on business growth and strategy improvement.
5. Managed IT Services Help Drive Efficiency
Partnering with a Managed IT Service Provider for IT Service Management (ITSM) can help optimize your systems allowing your teams to work more efficiently. MSPs design efficient systems that leverage technology to improve operations, which can identify unique factors that hinder performance across the department.
Find the Right Managed IT Services Provider
Financial institution decision-makers must grow their businesses while maintaining the highest possible security levels. This involves maintaining technology infrastructures that can grow with businesses — without adding significant costs. Organization leaders face decisions regarding strengthening and growing their internal IT systems, controls, and professional staff versus outsourcing these functions. They also have the option to capitalize on internal and outside expertise by combining them into hybrid IT systems.
Technology must not only protect data and resources but also give financial organizations the ability to compete. This is where Synoptek comes into play.
If you’re ready for a better way to manage your IT services with a managed service that grows when your business does, it’s time to contact Synoptek. Help us identify the unique challenges you’re facing, and we’ll come up with a detailed plan and program to address them. Contact us for more information.