Financial entities operate in a complex technical landscape where legacy systems must coexist with modern technologies to meet evolving customer expectations. This interconnected environment introduces vulnerabilities that can lead to IT disruptions, inefficiencies, increased costs, and regulatory risks. High-profile outages, such as those faced by Bank of America and other global institutions, emphasize the critical importance of operational resilience and compliance.

Regulatory frameworks like the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and FCA/PRA standards demand more than operational resilience; they require proactive compliance and preparedness. With the stakes higher than ever, financial leaders must balance innovation with resilience to protect revenue, mitigate risk, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Here are six key challenges facing financial leaders today and strategies to address them effectively.

1. Accelerating incident response
IT incidents are no longer just operational concerns—they directly affect customer trust and financial outcomes. The cost of downtime can range from $5,600 per minute to $540,000 per hour, underscoring the need for rapid resolution.¹

Solution: The PagerDuty Operations Cloud automates the entire incident lifecycle, enabling faster detection, containment, and resolution. Generative AI-powered tools, like PagerDuty Advance, provide guided remediation and post-incident reviews to improve operational preparedness.

2. Balancing innovation with operational resilience 
Emerging technologies like AI, cloud platforms, and IoT offer competitive advantages but increase exposure to operational risks. U.S. data breaches cost an average of $9.44 million per incident, heightening the urgency for proactive measures.²

Solution: PagerDuty’s integration with ITSM platforms and robust orchestration capabilities help ensure that companies can scale innovation confidently while maintaining stability.

3. Embedding resilience into Agile and DevOps initiatives Agile and DevOps enable faster product development, but managing operational risks in financial services often create roadblocks. Manual tracking and monitoring processes can slow down innovation and introduce risks.

Solution: PagerDuty’s advanced workflow logic can assist with continuous monitoring and allow companies to assess compliance more quickly, allowing companies to drive innovation while meeting regulatory demands.

4. Enhancing data quality and cross-functional collaboration
Fragmented systems and siloed teams hinder effective incident response and compliance efforts. Disconnected data flows reduce decision-making capabilities and increase risk.

Solution: PagerDuty unifies data sources and fosters cross-functional collaboration by integrating with over 700 tools, including Microsoft Teams and Slack. Enhanced visibility and timely updates streamline decision-making and strengthen compliance efforts.

5. Simplifying change management and automation
As companies scale, managing distributed teams and hybrid infrastructures becomes increasingly challenging. Rising operational demands further compound these complexities, driving up overall costs and straining resources.

Solution: Leverage automation and AI to improve efficiency. PagerDuty’s Runbook Automation allows companies to manage workflows across departments, technologies, and networks, ensuring consistent operational stability. 

6. Balancing costs and innovation
Rising operational expenditures—up to 2.5% of profits—redirect resources from innovation and growth initiatives. This tradeoff can hinder competitiveness in an evolving market.³

Solution: Embed resilience into core operations to streamline adherence and free up resources for innovation. PagerDuty’s centralized orchestration and automation capabilities help companies maintain agility while controlling costs.

Turning challenges into opportunities
For financial leaders, operational resilience is not optional but essential for navigating today’s complex landscape. By leveraging tools like the PagerDuty Operations Cloud, companies can address inefficiencies, enhance customer trust, and ensure seamless operations. Resilience becomes more than a safeguard; it’s a pathway to driving innovation and maintaining a competitive advantage in the industry.

Organizations that prioritize resilience will not only meet today’s demands but also set the standard for the future of financial services. Download the PagerDuty for Financial Services solution brief or contact us to learn more about how PagerDuty can help your organization overcome these challenges and build a resilient financial entity.

References
^{1 https://www.the20.com/blog/the-cost-of-it-downtime/}
2 https://www.mindpointgroup.com/blog/the-costs-of-a-data-breach
^{3 https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/does-regulation-hurt-innovation-study-says-yes}