MARKET REPORT Finance
“Zero Trust and Identity Access Management (IAM) are the way forward when it comes to protecting sensitive
assets in the financial sector.” James Taylor, Cyber Security Strategic Development Manager at Nuvias
Finance and Banking
The banking sector is facing challenges as a result of COVID-19 just like every other. In this feature
Comms Business takes a look at how the industry stands up to the current conditions and how the Channel
can offer assistance to a sector which is central to the UK economy
As a sector which underpins
the UK economy banking
and nance is often an
good indicator of the state
of the nation. What challenges
is it facing right now? James
Taylor, Cyber Security Strategic
Development Manager at
Nuvias commented “Beyond
the ever more sophisticated
cyber-attacks organisations need
to contend with the widening
of the attack surface, thanks
to multiple user devices and
apps, not to mention the BYO
trend. Some of the challenges
the nancial sector faces in the
Digital Transformation will be
in the release of applications,
that beyond providing a
competitive advantage, maintain
the integrity of the service they
o er.”
James Banks, Technical
Director – Charterhouse
Voice & Data said “ In these
challenging times, the Finance
sector is proving to be somewhat
more resilient than many
other verticals – we’re seeing
the biggest challenges to be
around supporting more exible
working over the past few
months.
We have a signi cant number
of clients in the Alternative
Investment space, Hedge Funds,
Private Equity, Asset Managers,
etc, and for them ‘the lights
remain on’. ey continue to
do business and their workload
has probably grown rather
than shrunk, but through the
pandemic they have needed
to get their sta working from
home and out of the o ce
However, in this vertical
and more so than any others,
there are stringent requirements
and regulations in terms of
compliance – particularly
MiFiD II – which in a simpli ed
format e ectively requires
rms to take ‘reasonable
steps’ to record ‘relevant
communications’ and for the
concept of home working this
has seen many organisations
realise that their existing
approach for recording voice
would be inadequate for these
new ways of working.”
Jason Roos, CEO of Cirrus,
said “Long before Covid, the
Finance and Banking sector was
facing signi cant challenges.
Disruptive market entrants were
rede ning customer service
with an online ‘digital-centric’
approach, and at the same
time, customers were becoming
more demanding and less loyal,
expecting nothing less than a
highly responsive, personalised
service available 24x7.
e pandemic has only added
to these challenges. e social
changes that have taken place
has driven more customers to
online services, and the nancial
impact has increased customer
demand on services while the
sector has had to cope with the
vast majority of their workforce
having to work from home.
e major challenge for
this sector is having the
agility to adapt to a dynamic
environment, both externally
and internally. How do they
embrace virtual working not just
as a temporary quick x, but as a
longer-term practice and how do
they, not only quickly respond
to changing customer needs, but
innovate to di erentiate?”
Transforming a sector
e banking sector has become
a hotbed of innovation over the
last ve years and we have seen a
huge ntech scene emerge, with
a strong foothold in London.
For a sector which is fast moving
is the Channel in a position to
service these companies with the
right type of technology?
Will Emm, CEO of Oak
Innovation, commented “It’s
one of the most demanding
sectors to work in with global
organisations often selecting
their preferred vendors on
another continent. e need
for secure, reliable solutions
can be at odds with innovation.
It’s a fast-moving target for the
channel, necessitating access
to the best technology and
resources to succeed.
Once the domain of global
vendors and large solution
providers, nancial organisations
are open to best in class products
and smaller, more agile partners,
better able to provide innovative
solutions.”
James Banks said “Partners
that are equipped with the right
skills and market understanding
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