Aberdeen Report: “Archiving Practices in Financial Services”

Smarsh, Inc., a managed service provider of secure and reliable email archiving and compliance solutions, shared the results of an Analyst Insight report from Aberdeen Group, titled Archiving Practices in Financial Services. The research indicates that there is a unique set of business pressures driving companies in the financial services industry to adopt data archiving technology, and in the current economic climate, an appropriate hosted solution can provide remedy for these issues.

According to Aberdeen’s data, increasing operational efficiency was a top factor in driving 44% of financial services companies towards implementing a data archiving solution, while 34% of the remaining pool of surveyed companies (across multiple industry segments) cited this rationale. Meanwhile, 33% of companies from the financial sector listed corporate governance (including regulatory compliance) as a top pressure, compared with 9% of all others.

“Between the economic downturn, the volatility of the markets and impending increases in regulation and oversight, this is a challenging time for the financial services industry. Companies are going to be forced to maintain compliance with federal and industry regulatory standards while functioning with fewer resources,” explained Jeffrey Hill, Aberdeen’s Senior Research Analyst, Data Management and Storage, and the primary author of the Insight. “Companies should use these challenging times as an opportunity to look into technology solutions that can help them produce and achieve more with less.”

The paper suggests that the benefits of a hosted (also known as software-as-a-service or SaaS) deployment model can help companies effectively address these challenges. According to the report, “Because of lower costs through human capital, fewer resources spent on IT development and implementation, and the ability to support the uniqueness of each organization’s business processes, a hosted solution offers cash-strapped financial services companies a way to become more fiscally responsible at a time when it is severely needed.”

Additional business pressures that resonated more with the financial sector included minimizing risk of data loss and minimizing litigation risk.

“We’ve learned that in order to provide peace of mind for our clients in the financial services industry, our service and solutions need to address all of the pressures documented in the Aberdeen report,” said Stephen Marsh, founder and CEO of Smarsh. “This is a sophisticated industry, and current environment aside, archiving needs are evolving. Litigation readiness and risk management are more mission-critical than ever. Protecting client data and communication, monitoring and documenting usage of corporate messaging systems… answering these challenges is no longer simply optional for long-term business well-being.”