As the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) ushers in new compliance standards for financial institutions across Europe, organisations are under increased pressure to safeguard their digital resilience.
DORA’s four key pillars – IT Risk Management, ICT & Operational Incident Reporting, Operational Resilience Testing, and Third-Party Risk Management – demand a robust, scalable approach to managing interaction data.
Wordwatch, a state-of-the-art compliance and record-keeping solution, is here to help financial organisations meet many of DORA’s requirements – here’s how:
- IT Risk Management: Strengthening Data Integrity and Security
Under DORA, it requires organisations to implement proactive IT risk management measures, ensuring that all digital interactions are secure and accessible.
Wordwatch supports these objectives by providing:
- Native media support and chain-of-custody protocols: By preserving original recording formats, as well as verifying authenticity, Wordwatch ensures that data integrity is maintained throughout its lifecycle. This is important for compliance, as it ensures that all records meet regulatory requirements for both authenticity and reliability.
- Scalable and secure data access: With a centralised system architecture, Wordwatch consolidates data across multiple recording platforms, eliminating the inefficiencies of managing disparate, and often legacy, systems. This approach reduces operational costs and helps to boost security by mitigating the risks associated with unsupported or old infrastructure.
- Cloud and hybrid deployment options: By offering flexibility with how Wordwatch is deployed i.e. full cloud, on-premise, or hybrid – it allows organisations to store and manage their data in compliance with DORA.
- ICT & Operational Incident Reporting
Another pillar of DORA requires financial institutions to detect, manage, and report ICT-related incidents promptly.
Wordwatch’s management capabilities help to make a difference:
- Rapid search and retrieval across billions of records: Wordwatch allows compliance teams to quickly search and retrieve specific recordings from a vast data pool. This functionality ensures quick response times during incidents, fulfilling DORA’s emphasis on efficient reporting and minimising downtime.
- Comprehensive data exporting: Wordwatch provides impressive export capabilities, from simple playback to bulk exports with verifiable authenticity, allowing organisations to meet DORA’s stringent reporting requirements.
- Operational Resilience Testing: Building Robust, Future-Proof Infrastructure
Regular operational resilience testing is required under DORA to ensure continuity and preparedness for disruptions.
Wordwatch’s resilience-enhancing features include:
- Consolidate your system architecture: Wordwatch helps to reduce server requirements by up to 87% and optimise storage, helping organisations to maintain cost-effective infrastructures. This improves resilience, making it easier to conduct stress testing and scenario analysis.
- Automated data retention and deletion policies: A popular feature is that Wordwatch enables organisations to enforce retention policies, in line with regulatory mandates. This means it will automatically remove recordings once their retention period has expired. This minimises the risk of ‘over-retention’ and aligns with DORA’s requirements for operational resilience.
- Third-Party Risk Management: Enhancing Transparency and Accountability
DORA places a strong emphasis on managing risks associated with third-party service providers.
Wordwatch supports financial organisations to mitigate related risks through:
- Unified platform for interaction data: By consolidating multiple data sources into a single platform, Wordwatch provides a clear, comprehensive view of third-party interactions. This transparency is crucial for monitoring third-party compliance and helps to align with DORA’s standards for vendor oversight.
- Integration with external applications and APIs: Wordwatch’s open API capabilities enable seamless integration with compliance workflows. This is particularly beneficial for organisations that rely on multiple external partners for data processing and management.
Preparing for DORA Compliance with Wordwatch
With the DORA compliance deadline fast approaching (17 January), financial organisations need a reliable partner to navigate the complexities of regulatory adherence.