Learn what the Digital Operation Resilience Act (DORA) means for your business. Discover how ARRT UK can help with comprehensive DORA compliance services to ensure your organisation’s digital resilience.

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a pivotal regulatory development aimed at fortifying the digital resilience of financial entities within the European Union (EU). As digital transformation becomes increasingly central to business operations, particularly in the financial sector, the EU has recognised the need for robust frameworks that ensure operational resilience against cyber threats, system failures, and other digital risks.

In this blog post, we will explore what DORA is, who it affects, the steps businesses need to take to comply, and the deadlines for compliance. We will also provide a comprehensive overview of how ARRT UK is strategically positioned to support your organisation in navigating DORA compliance, emphasising the integration of compliance into your broader digital transformation efforts. 

What is the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)?

DORA is a regulation introduced by the European Commission to ensure that all financial entities operating within the EU are equipped to withstand, respond to, and recover from ICT (Information and Communication Technology) disruptions and cyber threats. The act is part of a broader strategy to create a safer and more resilient financial sector within the Digital Single Market.

The primary objective of DORA is to harmonise digital operational resilience requirements across the EU, meaning financial institutions, regardless of size or complexity, must adhere to a uniform set of rules concerning IT security and resilience. This includes ensuring that third-party ICT service providers, such as cloud service providers, are also compliant with these standards. 

Who Does DORA Affect?

DORA impacts a broad spectrum of entities within the financial sector, including but not limited to:

1. Credit Institutions – Banks and other lending institutions.
2. Investment Firms – Entities involved in providing investment services and activities.
3. Payment Institutions – Companies offering payment services, including e-money institutions.
4. Insurance and Reinsurance Companies – Firms offering various insurance products.
5. Asset Managers – Including fund managers, portfolio managers, and other investment fund entities.
6. Crypto-Asset Service Providers – As digital assets become more mainstream, these providers are also under DORA’s purview.
7. Third-Party ICT Service Providers – This includes cloud services, data analytics firms, and other ICT-related service providers that cater to financial institutions.

If your business is involved in the financial sector within the EU, DORA will likely affect you.

What Do Affected Entities Need to Do?

To comply with DORA, financial entities need to take several crucial steps:

Risk Management Frameworks:

• Develop and maintain a robust ICT risk management framework, including clear policies, procedures, and governance structures that address all aspects of digital operational resilience.

Incident Reporting:

• Implement procedures for the timely and accurate reporting of major ICT-related incidents to the relevant authorities, including cyber-attacks, data breaches, and system failures that could impact the entity’s operations or clients.

Resilience Testing:

• Conduct regular testing of digital operational resilience, including penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and scenario-based tests that simulate real-world cyber threats.

Third-Party Risk Management:

• Ensure that all third-party ICT service providers comply with DORA’s requirements. Financial entities must have comprehensive contracts and monitoring systems in place to manage third-party risks.

Information Sharing:

• Engage in secure information sharing with other entities and authorities to enhance collective resilience against cyber threats.

Business Continuity Plans:

• Develop and maintain effective business continuity plans that ensure the entity can continue operations in the face of ICT disruptions. This includes disaster recovery strategies and backup systems.

Compliance Monitoring:

• Establish ongoing compliance monitoring to ensure that the entity adheres to DORA requirements and that any lapses are promptly addressed.

How ARRT UK Can Help

ARRT UK is strategically positioned to provide a comprehensive suite of DORA-related services, ensuring that our clients achieve and maintain operational resilience and regulatory compliance at every stage of their technology journey. Our approach is grounded in a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape, combined with specialised expertise in digital and integrated solutions.

Our DORA Consultancy Services are designed to guide organisations through the complexities of DORA compliance, offering expert advice and practical solutions across four key areas: Software Procurement, Integrated Systems Landscapes, the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC), and Digital Integrated Support Solutions. By focusing on these areas, ARRT ensures that DORA compliance is deeply integrated into every aspect of your organisation’s digital transformation strategy.

DORA Consultancy Services

ARRT’s consultancy services are designed to guide organisations through the complexities of DORA compliance, offering expert advice and practical solutions to embed resilience into their operations. Our team delivers tailored services across the following critical areas:

Software Procurement Process

Integration and Resilience Planning: ARRT will assist you in evaluating the integration capabilities of new software, focusing on how well it can seamlessly connect with existing digital systems while maintaining DORA compliance. This includes assessing the robustness and security of the software’s APIs, ensuring they support secure data exchanges and align with DORA’s requirements for operational resilience.

Resilience and Continuity Planning: We provide strategic guidance on designing and implementing integration workflows that enhance operational resilience. This includes developing contingency plans and recovery protocols that align with DORA’s guidelines, ensuring that even in the event of an integration failure, your organisation’s critical operations remain unaffected.

Existing Integrated Landscape

Integration and Resilience Services for Existing Integration Landscape: ARRT will conduct a thorough evaluation of your organisation’s existing integration landscape, focusing on the interoperability of current systems and APIs. This involves assessing how well different systems communicate and exchange data while maintaining DORA compliance. We ensure that the APIs and integration points between systems are secure, resilient, and capable of handling disruptions without compromising operational continuity.

DORA Compliance Gap Analysis: We perform a comprehensive gap analysis to identify any areas within your existing integration landscape that may fall short of DORA compliance. This includes evaluating data flow security, incident response capabilities, and the robustness of integration processes. ARRT provides actionable recommendations to close these gaps and enhance the overall resilience of your integrated systems.

Resilience Enhancement and Continuity Planning: ARRT offers services to strengthen the resilience of your existing integrated systems. This involves designing and implementing robust continuity plans that align with DORA guidelines, ensuring that your organisation can maintain critical operations even during integration failures or disruptions. We also develop backup and recovery protocols specific to the integration points to ensure swift restoration of services.

Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)

DORA Compliance Requirements Definition: ARRT establishes DORA-specific requirements as a foundational element of the SDLC, ensuring that every aspect of your digital and integration solutions is designed with operational resilience and security in mind from the outset.

Secure Coding Practices and Training: We integrate secure coding practices into the SDLC, providing ongoing training for your development teams to ensure that DORA compliance is a continuous focus throughout the development of digital and integration solutions.

Automated Compliance Checks and Continuous Integration: ARRT embeds automated DORA compliance checks within the CI/CD pipeline, making compliance verification a routine part of each build and deployment. This helps maintain the resilience and security of digital and integration solutions throughout their development.

Digital Integrated Support Solutions

Ongoing Monitoring and Compliance Assurance: ARRT configures, develops, and implements continuous monitoring solutions to track the performance and compliance of your digital and integrated solutions in real time. This service includes monitoring, automated error handling, alerting, and detailed reporting to ensure any potential compliance issues or operational disruptions are immediately reported and raised to the relevant support and business teams. This proactive approach helps maintain continuous DORA compliance and operational resilience.

Strategic Impact

By focusing on these four critical areas, ARRT positions itself as a trusted partner in helping organisations navigate and meet DORA requirements. Our holistic approach ensures that DORA compliance is not just a box-ticking exercise but a deeply integrated discipline across all technology processes. From procurement to existing system landscapes, SDLC, and digital integrated support solutions, ARRT’s strategic services will drive growth, enhance your organisation’s operational resilience, and establish us as a leader in the rapidly evolving regulatory environment.

Summary

The Digital Operational Resilience Act represents a significant shift in how financial institutions must approach digital resilience. With the 2025 deadline approaching, it is crucial for affected entities to begin their compliance journey now. However, compliance should not be seen as a burden but as an opportunity to strengthen your organisation’s overall digital resilience.

ARRT UK is here to support you every step of the way. Our comprehensive suite of services ensures that your organisation not only meets DORA’s requirements but also builds a resilient and secure digital infrastructure that can thrive in an increasingly regulated environment.

Get in Touch.

Don’t wait until the last minute to start your compliance journey. Contact ARRT UK today and let us help you turn compliance into a competitive advantage.

Contact us to learn more about how we can support your organisation in navigating the complexities of DORA compliance with confidence and clarity.