Reliance on vendors brings risk.  As such, it's a regulatory hot button that will only get hotter.

There’s no doubt that a wave of new regulation will come, we just don’t know what it will be or when it will come. There will also likely be changes to the structure of the regulatory agencies themselves, and you can bet that they will be looking to prove themselves in the meantime.  But you can count on their immediate focus remaining on information security. So here are three technology related things you can count on them focusing on.  (July 2009) 

Some encouraging signs:

• Unprofitable institutions are down significantly...some as the result of consolidation but many as a result of having hit the bottom of problem loans and are on the way back up
• Net Interest margin is up
• Charge offs are down a bit
• Unfortunately non-interest income to earning assets continues its downward trend but it was mostly flat last year
• ROA, while not great, is at least – on average – positive

As CFO, COO or CIO, you likely are under pressure to find savings anywhere you can, preserve capital and you’re anxious about submitting your budget in the next few weeks.  The problem is that there’s still a long list of new projects (both internal IT, business line and regulatory required projects) and most of your IT budget is non-discretionary and already contractually committed.  You want to find some savings to improve profitability, still be able to do some new high-value projects and get your budget through.  Use our cost saving tips to find some savings that don’t cause more problems down the road and our budgeting tips to get your budget approved.

IT spending is the second largest non-interest expense and is growing 8-10% a year yet efficiency ratios are flat. So we hear many Boards and executives asking if technology is delivering on its promise. We also hear from CIOs and IT Executives who say they can’t get their users engaged. They buy great products, but people don’t invest the time to learn them.