New IDC Financial Insights Survey Indicates Cautious Continued Investment in Enterprise Risk Management Solutions Despite Market

Cloud risk management solutions gaining consideration among leading
banks

FRAMINGHAM, MA, July 12, 2010 – IDC Financial Insights
today announced the availability of a new report, Best Practices:
2010 Survey of Senior Risk Managers — Technology Implications for Vendors in a
New Risk Management Environment (Document #FIN223915, July 2010). The study – based on a series of interviews with
senior risk managers at tier 1 and tier 2 banks – reveals that more than 40% of respondents
indicated their bank will materially increase spending on risk in 2010. While
positive, this number suggests that risk is paramount, but overall capital is
still precious. As a result, senior risk managers will struggle to fulfill the
need to improve processes that include data, analytics, and reporting to meet
increased regulatory requirements while dealing with limited investment
capital.

“In the aftermath of the financial
crisis and recession of 2008 and 2009, risk managers are facing a new reality
of issues, ranging from disparate databases to new regulatory demands in a
tighter credit market,” said Dana Wiklund,
research director, IDC Financial Insights’ Global Risk
Management practice. “There is now a universal focus on enterprise
risk management because of higher levels of business model oversight by
regulators and investors. There is also increased stress on operational
processes that deal with technology, compliance, and data security. Over the
next couple of years, banks will need financial technology tools that widen
their view of risk and risk interdependencies.”

Key
findings from this study include the following:

Enterprise risk management is now getting more
attention from internal (boards) and external (regulators) parties than
ever before.
The overall economy still has question marks, which
is increasing the pressure on consumers and commercial customers to make
payments – stress on delinquency is still front and center.
With the focus on speed, accuracy, and efficiency,
cloud or hosted risk management solutions are gaining more and more
consideration by financial institutions. When asked about whether the
institution is looking to replace in-house solutions with hosted solutions
over the next 12 months, 25% of respondents gave a positive answer.
According to the survey results, 58% of respondents
are concerned about increased levels of systematic risks over the next 12
months.

“There is still an air of risk
apprehension among risk professionals that is driven by a global economy that
is struggling out of recession,” stated Wiklund. “While regulatory
pressure is increasing and the overall risk environment is still tenuous, this
survey shows that financial institutions will proceed cautiously with
investment in FinTech solutions through 2010 into 2011.”

This IDC
Financial Insights report contains the findings from 12 key questions posed to
senior risk officers among a select group of nationally regulated tier 1 banks
and state and federally regulated tier 2 banks within the United States. The
goal of this survey was to gather first-hand industry intelligence from leading
risk management practitioners regarding a number of important risk issues and
trends across the enterprise.

Join the discussions
in the IDC Financial Insights Community; read Dana Wiklund’s blog here.

For
additional information about this study, or to arrange a one-on-one briefing
with Dana Wiklund please contact Sarah Murray at 781-794-3214 or [email protected]. Reports
are available to qualified members of the media. For information on purchasing
reports, contact [email protected];
reporters should email [email protected]

About IDC Financial Insights

IDC Financial Insights
provides independent research, custom consulting, and detailed multiclient
studies on the technology issues and challenges facing the financial services
industry. Its global research covers topics of strategic importance to
corporate and retail banks, insurance carriers, and asset management,
securities, and brokerage firms. In addition to the United States, local
practices in Asia/Pacific, Canada, Europe, and Latin America add in-depth
regional viewpoints. IDC Financial Insights is headquartered in Framingham,
Massachusetts, USA. International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global
provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the
information technology market. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading
technology, media, research, and events company. For more information, please
visit www.idc-fi.com, email
[email protected], or call 508-620-5533. Visit the IDC Financial Insights Community at
http://idc-insights-community.com/financial.