5 signs you’ve outgrown your IT managed security services

Your IT managed security services provider may be responsive in helping you manage your servers and meet basic compliance needs — but is that enough?

Financial institutions face new cybersecurity and IT considerations as they adopt the latest innovations for optimizing operations and enhancing customer experience. And the cybersecurity threat landscape continues evolving as AI brings new efficiencies to both businesses and threat actors.

If your managed services aren’t helping meet your changing IT needs, they may limit your growth. Switch to an IT managed security services provider that can join you as a strategic partner — not just a service provider — helping you go beyond the basics to transform your institution.

Here are five signs you’ve outgrown your managed services:

1. They’re not industry specialized

Many IT service providers work with multiple industries, meaning they often lack knowledge of the unique operations and regulatory requirements of financial institutions.

When you engage IT managed security services that offer industry-specialized support, you’re working with people who have a deeper understanding of your technology requirements and the industry challenges you’re likely to face during IT optimization. They understand the business applications and can help you maximize availability. And they can apply their experience in helping other financial institutions to your obstacles.

2. They’re not helping you meet regulatory priorities

The threat landscape has changed since the FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool was last updated in May 2017, and regulatory priorities reflect that.

Regulators are now inspecting for the additional priorities outlined in the Fiscal Year 2024 Bank Supervision Operating Plan. This plan highlights critical areas such as data recovery, access controls and operational resilience.

Your provider should not only be aware of these regulatory priorities but also help you update your security controls to satisfy regulators.  

3. They don’t provide IT strategy services

With the rapid pace of technological change, modernizing business is a key concern across industries.

For financial institutions, modernizing often involves integrating your core banking systems with new customer relationship management and analytics systems. And that process requires support for more than just your servers.

Your IT managed security services should be able to support your institution with:

• Developing an IT business strategy and road map that aligns your business and technology needs.
• Creating an IT infrastructure that supports your organization’s strategic vision.
• Identifying potential challenges and providing recommendations.

They should also take a proactive role in helping you identify ways to use technology to improve workflows, productivity and customer experience — all while helping ensure your IT strategy and strategic plan stay aligned.

4. They lack scalability

Many IT managed security services providers operate as smaller organizations with limited staff. That means that as your institution grows, they may not be able to scale with you.

Find a provider capable of supporting your future growth, not just fixing and patching your servers. You need an organization with the IT personnel bench strength to support you as your cybersecurity needs and IT infrastructure evolve.

5. They’re not meeting your data security needs

The introduction of innovations such as AI and cloud solutions has changed the threat landscape significantly.

To effectively secure your cloud environment, your institution needs to work with a provider who can offer design and engineering support for critical safeguards, such as access control, identity management and security configurations. And now that threat actors are using AI to increase the frequency and sophistication of attacks, you’ll need IT managed security services capable of responding.

Partner with providers who can support more advanced security monitoring and cloud strategy and planning. It’s also important to work with a provider that maintains connections with different threat intelligence sources and understands the latest threats on a global scale — especially those impacting financial institutions. Providers that work with organizations like FS-ISAC are better equipped to apply their knowledge of the latest threats to protect your institution.

How Wipfli can help

Wipfli’s IT managed services team brings deep industry experience to support your financial institution’s IT needs. We understand your critical industry, operational and regulatory concerns, and we’re ready to provide proactive guidance to help you address them.

Whether you need support that can augment your current provider or managed services with greater capability, Wipfli can help.

Contact us today to learn more about how our services can do more to further your growth.