Security and compliance are the lifeblood of any financial institution’s IT infrastructure, but managing these on your own can be tricky. There is no “one size fits all” solution that will ensure compliance while protecting your business and client information out of the box. Maintaining a secure environment that protects both your business and your clients while meeting the stringent compliance guidelines of the financial industry requires a holistic approach and an in-depth understanding of best practices to be successful.
Partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) allows financial institutions the freedom to offload their complex IT tasks to a specialized team with industry-leading resources. This way, the bank can focus on core business initiatives while resting assured that they are meeting the necessary compliance requirements of the industry.
Not all MSPs are created equal. It’s important to partner with a company that understands the unique nuances of your industry in order to reap all of the benefits they can offer you. For the financial sector, this means partnering with providers that understand local and national compliance regulations, audit requirements and cybersecurity. At BBH, we tailor every solution with the products, services and configurations needed to protect your business and save you money.
According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach in 2024 is 4.88 million dollars. For many institutions, a loss of that magnitude could cause irreparable damage. To help combat against a costly data breach, companies are investing in new security tools as new technologies are implemented. This can quickly become expensive and cumbersome, causing strain on the budget and the IT staff responsible for maintaining these solutions.
When partnering with an MSP, especially one that understands cybersecurity and how it can impact financial institutions, you get to leverage the tools they have in place to manage your infrastructure. This offers instant value because the tools in place are backed by industry-defined standards and best practices.
Another advantage of opting to partner with an MSP to manage your IT infrastructure is that it grants you access to the top talent in the industry. A qualified MSP has engineers with expertise in several IT disciplines, as well as hands-on experience dealing with compliance and security issues. This means that bank IT directors will spend less time troubleshooting and scrambling to gather audit data, and more time using technology to enhance business processes and customer satisfaction.
Partnering with an MSP that understands the needs of a financial institution and the path they need to be on is an invaluable benefit that should be considered when evaluating providers. These service providers understand how to optimize the IT infrastructure of a financial institution so that it aligns with their business initiatives, which creates a path for future growth.
A strong IT roadmap should clearly outline all proposed recommendations, and the costs, durations, and impacts associated with each. These recommendations should be prioritized in order of risk level and importance to business objectives.
A preliminary IT assessment is crucial for the development of an MSP scope of work for ongoing services. This helps the service provider understand the full security posture of a banking institution, including vulnerabilities, risks, or concerns that should be addressed immediately. A holistic approach to risk management that encompasses a bank’s entire infrastructure allows for a thorough risk management plan, one that will be a key part of the IT roadmap.
As new solutions are implemented into the environment, continued risk analysis should be conducted. Continual assessment of risk helps plan for the unexpected and protects companies from unforeseen challenges, making it an obvious value-added service in any MSP proposal.
BBH is a Managed Service Provider based out of New York City, specializing in compliance and security support. Our SOC 2 attestation positions us to understand the unique nuances of the security audit process. Our engineering team is composed of some of the brightest in the industry, and they are passionate about helping local institutions, regional banks, and other financial institutions maintain secure, optimized IT environments.
To learn more about what goes into a vendor's SOC 2 audit, download our whitepaper.