The financial services industry relies on technology to support its customers and their expectations, but often financial services organizations must deal with aging and legacy technology within their infrastructure. While the industry is constantly evolving with advancements in financial services technology, without a modern IT foundation in place, you may not be able to adapt easily to changes in technology.
From accountants to financial advisors and wealth managers to credit unions and more, financial services can greatly benefit from outsourced, managed information technology (IT) services. Read on to learn how financial organizations can benefit from managed IT services.
1. Reduce Operating Costs
Keeping up with modern technology and having knowledgeable staff to maintain can quickly become expensive when trying to do it all in-house. Not only is it expensive to recruit and hire standard IT talent, but you also lose the flexibility of having access to individual specialists. Managed IT services reduce total operating costs as businesses do not need as large of an investment in on-premises and legacy technology, in-house employees, continuous training and more. While there is a clear cost saving advantage to working with a Managed IT Services provider, outsourced IT work accounted for roughly 14% of IT spending in 2022, signaling that more organizations need to take advantage of this effective cost-cutting measure.
2. Bolsters Innovation and Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is an important topic for financial services organizations. Modern technology allows you to deliver new services and better experiences to your customers, but if your organization is handcuffed by the cost and complexity of maintaining legacy systems, digital transformation and innovation could come to a screeching halt. The workload of keeping systems patched and updated can be extreme. Working with an expert managed service provider means the path to modernization is easier and faster. It also means that your systems become more secure with constant monitoring and patch management.
3. Increase Systems Uptime
On average, every minute of downtime costs a business $9,000, which can add up to an exorbitant cost, especially for small financial services businesses. Consumers need real-time, immediate access to their finances, so any downtime creates a distinct loss of trust. Managed IT providers ensure there are cloud backups and no single point of failure, reducing the likelihood that your financial services business goes entirely offline.
4. Improve Security and Compliance
From the new GBLA Safeguards Rule requirements to CCPA, financial services organizations have stringent regulatory compliance to meet. Financial services organizations house some of the most sensitive data in a consumer’s life, so a cyber breach can have a huge damaging effect. Because of the data they have access to, financial services are highly targeted in cyberattacks with the majority of threats coming from ransomware that can infiltrate and lock down an entire infrastructure within seconds. Managed providers can offer cybersecurity services including 24/7 monitoring, threat detection, proactive backups, disaster recovery, and incident response programs.
5. Create a Stronger Customer Experience
Consumers’ expectations are high, and even more so with the younger generations. For example, Gen Z prefers self-service options and has little patience for poor customer service. Sixty-two percent of millennials would switch to a competitor after a bad customer service experience. And in the financial services industry, customers want more personalization and flexibility across financial apps and tools, as well as real-time support via chat. Managed IT services can help ensure you have the right technology and processes in place to support a better and stronger customer experience.
Use TPx for Managed IT Services in Financial Services
Outsourcing IT to an expert managed provider like TPx ensures your business has the right technology, security, and support in place to meet and exceed your customer expectations. Learn more about our services today.