The finance industry, from banks to private equity firms and more, is a highly regulated vertical that relies increasingly on technology. Between adapting to the pandemic with an increase in things like interactive teller machines, mobile banking, and the increasing role technology plays in our lives, if you want to serve your customers well, technology is an essential part of your business.
As a part of the financial industry, you need a good technology management team behind you in order to leverage technology in ways that grow your organization. A managed services provider can be a great fit for your financial firm. Below are the top benefits of managed IT services for financial institutions.
#1 – Staying Ahead of the Game
Oftentimes, if a bank or financial firm only has an internal IT department, their vision can become narrow. They only work with one specific organization, so typically they only think within the boundaries of that organization. Additionally, with fewer resources available and a lot of daily tasks to juggle, it can be harder for an internal IT team to have bandwidth to consider bigger-picture items and execute on long-term strategy.
A managed services provider with years of experience has worked with many businesses across the financial industry, and as such, understands multiple methods for applying technology to the business. This can bring a fresh perspective that allows the business to use best-in-class practices positioning itself to become an industry leader. Leveraging an MSP also means that a large array of resources are available, so that both simple day-to-day tasks and more strategic moves can be accomplished, allowing you to move beyond maintaining technology, and instead using it as a tool to improve your business.
#2 – A Highly Regulated Industry
SOC II certification is extremely important to most businesses in the financial sector. Many organizations can’t use managed services providers who are not SOC II, Type 2 certified. One of the general benefits of a managed services provider is the wide variety of certifications an MSP can have due to their breadth of expertise and depth of resources. This includes industry certifications and regulations such as SOC II. Mature MSPs will have the processes and procedures in place for certifications like SOC II.
They also have a deep bench of expertise to stay on top of industry regulations in general unlike a small internal IT department, who typically will not have bandwidth; therefore, the level of expertise, that is optimal for industry regulation compliance. In addition to bandwidth to keep up with industry regulations, your managed services provider can assist you with audits both during the auditing process, and beyond. By ensuring you’re always within compliance regulations, audits can go more smoothly, and with your MSP as a liaison, you can ensure proper communication between your organization and auditors.
#3 – Staying Secure
It’s more evident than ever that no organization can be complacent when it comes to IT security. Businesses in the financial industry are at an even higher risk for cyber attacks, which means they must be even more diligent in order to prevent a breach.
Managed services providers have experience providing IT security services to many companies, giving them a wide variety of tools to help protect your bank or financial organization. Similarly to shaping the overall technology strategy, an MSP is able to gain experience within the financial industry outside of your organization. An internal IT department likely does not have the same opportunity. This gives you many tools in your security toolbelt to prevent a cyber attack, from cloud security, end user training, data backup, and more.
There are many benefits of managed IT services for financial institutions. Overall, an MSP’s level of expertise can be very beneficial for any organization in the financial industry. It should be noted that an MSP is different than your core provider. Your core provider provides core software, not IT networking or infrastructure. A managed services provider has built a business around providing great IT support. A core provider has built their business on providing great core software.
Managed service providers are able to bring daily experience from outside your organization in a way internal IT departments often can’t, providing you with best-in-class technology strategy, IT security, and more. And, most importantly, using an MSP can help you use technology to better serve your customers, which is the ultimate goal of your business.
Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published in January of 2021, and has since been updated for accuracy and relevance.
