ALPHARETTA, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Safe Systems, a national provider of fully-compliant IT and security services for community banks and credit unions, today published a free white paper, “2018 Community Bank and Credit Union Information Technology Outlook,” which is now available for download on its website. The white paper is based on results from a survey of more than 100 community financial institutions, representing a range of community banks and credit unions with asset sizes from $100 million to more than $1 billion.
The data indicates compliance and regulatory issues will continue to be driving factors for community financial institutions through 2018 and beyond. Additional key survey highlights include:
- 74% of survey respondents have increased their IT-related security spend in the past 18 months;
- 51% of respondents are using an application to manage their vendor management program while 41% are continuing to use a basic spreadsheet for vendor management;
- 86% outsource their security monitoring, given the increase in security breaches the industry has seen this past year; and
- 81% of survey participants foresee information security will continue to be a top challenge in the coming year.
“Community financial institutions must take into account key industry challenges, strategic goals and new opportunities for growth when planning initiatives for 2018,” said Darren Bridges, president of Safe Systems. “In our second annual ‘Community Bank and Credit Union Information Technology Report,’ we provide valuable peer information to help them identify and prioritize their strategic investments in IT, compliance and security in order to remain competitive in the industry.”
To gain more insight into the key challenges, goals and opportunities facing community banks and credit unions today, please download the full report here.
About Safe Systems
Safe Systems was founded in 1993 to provide compliance-centric IT and security solutions exclusively to financial institutions. The company has become one of the leaders in the industry, managing hundreds of financial institutions representing more than $61 billion in combined assets, 1,100 locations and more than 20,000 network devices. Safe Systems’ IT network management services are the bridge between the core and other third-party applications. These cost effective solutions include IT support and managed services, internal network/cloud design and installation, hosted email, business continuity and disaster recovery, compliance consulting, security services, and IT and compliance training. Safe Systems helps financial institutions to significantly decrease costs, increase performance, and improve their compliance posture. For additional information about Safe Systems, Inc., please visit www.safesystems.com or call 770.752.0550.
