The digital age has transformed the way that financial institutions operate.

In fact, banking has seen a dip in the number of brick-and-mortar branches and a rise in the number of people that bank online. A 2017 survey conducted on behalf of the American Bankers Association even found that two-thirds of Americans use online banking as their primary method of banking.

This shift towards mobile and online banking brings pros and cons for both financial institutions and their customers. For customers, the main benefit is the ability to access their accounts 24/7. For banks, there is the ongoing challenge of maintaining strict security measures and to effectively manage their online data.

Here’s why modern financial institutions are turning to expert IT services companies to provide more robust support and security for their IT infrastructures:

Financial Institutions Now Rely on Technology

With the prevalence of online and mobile banking, financial institutions must keep on top of several IT-related issues. Firstly, they must keep their customer’s information safe from data breaches and cyberattacks. Secondly, they must have the right tools and technology in place to keep their systems operating efficiently. Thirdly, financial institutions must keep up-to-date with the latest advancements and threats in technology and react to them.

Because modern businesses have so much responsibility when it comes to maintaining a healthy IT infrastructure, these institutions require IT support that often stretches beyond an in-house IT department’s capabilities. In these cases, a provider that specializes in expert IT services for financial institutions can fill the gaps and provide more comprehensive support, including software updates, cloud solutions, cybersecurity and disaster recovery plans, and more to ensure your business stays both secure and efficient.

Cybersecurity Threats Are More Advanced

Cybersecurity is an issue that has expanded to impact just about every business there is. Just as organizations find new ways to protect their businesses using technology, hackers find new ways to infiltrate that technology and steal your data.

Cybersecurity has become a major priority for all companies in and around Houston especially. Figures from the FBI show that in 2017, Texas was the state with the second-highest number of cybercrimes committed, which has caused more Texas companies since then to budget for and prioritize increased cybersecurity.

In fact, data protection legislation in Texas has even been amended this year (2019) to provide better regulation of Texas residents’ data. One particularly significant change for businesses to be mindful of is House Bill 4390, which is an amendment of the Texas Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act. This amendment, which comes into effect in 2020, states that businesses in Texas will have 60 days to disclose a data breach to the Texas Attorney General.

With a target on Texas’s back for cybercrime, maximum data protection is simply non-negotiable for Houston businesses, and this is especially true for financial institutions. The personal data held by these institutions is extremely sensitive and therefore very attractive to cybercriminals. It is no surprise that financial services suffer some of the largest losses of any industry as a result of cyberattacks.

This is why many financial institutions in Houston are now relying more on expert IT services from top-rated IT companies in the area to ensure their systems are protected at all times. With an expert IT services company, an outsourced team of specialists with several years of experience will handle your cybersecurity planning and implementation according to industry standards.

If you opt for managed services from an expert IT services company, they can take total control of managing your IT and ensuring it’s secure and compliant with cybersecurity laws. You can focus on managing your financial institution while they dedicate themselves to learning about and protecting your systems against the latest threats, as well as monitoring your systems 24/7 and providing emergency support services at any time of the day.

The Importance of Aligning IT Support with Your Business Goals

As banking digitally is the future of the industry, financial institutions in Houston must look to technology when planning future strategies and business goals. As such, a high level of IT support is required to scale an organization’s IT infrastructure successfully as your business grows.

Network Providence in Houston can provide all the support that financial organizations need to align their IT with their projected growth and business goals, all the while keeping their data protected from sophisticated cyber threats. The IT support provided by our team at Network Providence enables financial institutions to offer their customers reliable service while minimizing reputation-damaging situations such as excess downtime and data breaches.

Technology should always be working toward an organization’s advantage, and never the source of limitations. With IT services for financial institutions, your business can build on the opportunities that technology provides and harness it to achieve growth and maintain a competitive advantage. Contact our experts at Network Providence today to learn how our expert IT services in Houston can help your financial institution succeed.