| FSTC publishes detailed analysis of technology recovery in the financial services industry
The project, sponsored by FSTC’s Business Continuity Standing Committee (SCOM), went beyond the typical ‘best practices’ survey by collecting hard data on current and planned recovery strategies in large financial institutions, documenting product requirements for next generation solutions, and working with vendors to identify important recovery technology trends and opportunities for collaboration. “By sharing current and planned technology recovery practices with other large financial institutions, US Bank was able to validate its own recovery strategies against industry peers and better justify its investments in advance of regulatory changes,” said Thomas Hirsch, head of Recovery Management Services at US Bank and co-chair of the FSTC Business Continuity Standing Committee. “Collectively, we were also able to identify and prioritise needed product enhancements for technology vendors.” As part of the six-month effort, FSTC members compared their current and planned technology recovery strategies, analysed risk versus cost trade-offs, and studied the impact of regulatory and marketplace forces on bank recovery strategies. The participants, including five of the ten largest institutions in North America, also identified unmet needs and future requirements for recovery solutions. Financial institutions participating in the project included banks such as Bank of America, Bank One, Comerica Bank, The Huntington National Bank, US Bank, and Wachovia Corporation. Technology vendors supporting the project included IBM, Microsoft, and Veritas Software Corporation. "Working with an industry group provided Huntington with the forum to discuss our recovery practice and compare what others are doing,” said Todd Baumann, a vice president of The Huntington National Bank and director of Enterprise Business Continuity. “The group was able to help us validate current recovery practices while also providing input about how we can improve and become more efficient in building our future strategies." Key findings from the study include: “By working closely with disaster recovery architects from major banks, participating technology providers like IBM will be able to better address the unique recovery requirements of the financial services industry,” said Damian Walch, national practice executive, IBM Business Continuity Services and Co-chair of the FSTC Business Continuity Standing Committee. “While this initial interaction was invaluable, we believe the real value will come from the ongoing financial industry dialogue.” The FSTC Business Continuity SCOM is actively developing follow-on activities focused on reducing cost and risk, while simplifying the technology recovery process. The standing committee plans to conduct quarterly roundtable sessions among financial services providers to refine industry needs and establish industry-wide technology recovery best practices. The SCOM is also considering next phases to address end-to-end recovery best practices and the development of a recovery dashboard that can be used to report system recoverability status and risk. “The Business Continuity Standing Committee provides an opportunity for financial service professionals to come together on an ongoing basis to share knowledge and experiences, identify common issues or barriers, and to take action,” said Zachary Tumin, executive director of FSTC. “Through projects such as this, we are trying to drive the industry towards greater recovery standardisation and enhancements to reduce cost and effort, and ultimately reduce risk.” Organisations interested in joining FSTC and participating in the Business Continuity SCOM should visit the FSTC Web site at http://www.fstc.org for further information or contact Charles Wallen at charles.wallen@fstc.org To read the full executive summary of the FSTC project, click here (PDF).
•Date:
26th August 2004 • Region: N.America/World •Type:
Article •Topic: BC
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