Address the 3 Biggest IT Challenges in the Banking and Finance Industry
Last updated on February 22, 2021
3 Major IT Challenges in the Finance Industry
IT teams in banks and financial institutions are constantly under pressure to develop solutions that would ease certain security, labor, and economic issues impacting their organization. One solution can help them with that.
1. Cyber threats and regulatory compliance
With an average annual cost of $18.37M USD, companies in banking suffer the largest financial impact from cyberattacks compared to other industries. This was revealed in the latest edition of The Cost of Cybercrime, an annual study that quantifies the economic cost of cyberattacks.
And because they’re constantly targeted by cybercriminals, banks, credit unions, investment houses, insurance companies, real estate brokers, and other financial institutions are in turn subject to onerous data protection requirements from laws and regulations like General Data Protection Regulation. As a result, IT teams in banking and finance companies need to always put security and compliance as their top considerations when adopting new solutions.
A security breach can have potentially catastrophic consequences on the affected financial institution, if not the entire industry. Amidst a constantly-expanding threat environment, it is imperative that the industry finds ways to minimize exposure of employees to cyberthreats, secure digital banking channels from cyberattacks and continuously improve their IT security capabilities.
2. Employee retention
Banks and financial institutions are finding it increasingly difficult to retain top talent. This problem is particularly common when dealing with employees from younger generations, i.e. Millennials and Gen-Zers, who constantly seek greater flexibility in their work environments as well as more work-life balance. Unfortunately, professionals in this industry clock some of the longest working hours. Financial analysts, for instance, work between 50 to 70 hours per week.
To retain top talent, IT teams must collaborate with HR and decision-makers in enabling employees to gain more flexibility and the ability to take their work home or without compromising corporate data security.
3. Reduced revenue and low profitability
The rise of fintech companies and other new competitors, who are seizing market share in several banking and financial services, like money transfers and payments, savings and investment, borrowing, financial planning, and insurance, is impacting the revenue and profits of traditional banks and financial institutions. As such, IT is often tasked to develop financial IT services solutions that would generate cost savings in other areas in the business.
Beating IT challenges in the banking and finance industry with Parallels RAS
As a centralized application delivery and VDI solution, Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) doesn’t store applications and data on endpoint devices. This reduces the attack surface of your IT infrastructure and simplifies your duties in maintaining regulatory compliance.
Parallels RAS not only enables employees to work anywhere they want, but it also ensures they do so in a secure manner. Parallels RAS seamlessly delivers applications and data to PCs and mobile devices through the Internet, while securing sessions with encryption, multi-factor authentication, and several other security features.
Parallels RAS helps generate cost savings by providing businesses with containerization and virtualization technologies that enable them to extend the life of legacy applications and hardware. By delaying the purchase of several applications and hardware, companies can generate savings, free up cash flow, and improve profits.
Download your 30-day Parallels RAS trial today and start addressing your industry-specific challenges!
References
Accenture Security and Ponemon Institute| https://www.accenture.com/_acnmedia/pdf-96/accenture-2019-cost-of-cybercrime-study-final.pdf
European Central Bank | https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2015/html/sp151112_1.en.html
JustCoded | https://justcoded.com/blog/the-impact-of-fintech-on-banks-and-financial-services/
Parallels | https://www.parallels.com/eu/products/ras/solutions/finance-banking/