Financial institutions across Asia-Pacific (APAC) are racing ahead of their peers across Europe and North America when it comes to digital transformation, according to data from software provider ITRS Group. 

But amid this rapid rate of change, avoiding extended periods of unplanned downtime remains a challenge for firms in the region. the survey 'Financial institutions forgo critical IT spend: a global survey on operational resilience' further revealed. 

85% of firms in APAC believe rapid changes to their IT environment over the last 12 months have made it harder to maintain client SLAs/SLOs, the survey reveals, compared to a global average of only 79%. 

Crucially, it said, this rate of change is leaving some financial institutions in APAC unable to effectively manage their systems, data and security, resulting in a high rate of outages in the region. 

More than one in five APAC-based institutions are experiencing at least one day of unplanned downtime per year - more than either North America or Europe - despite 92% of firms in APAC believing that their IT solutions can pre-empt issues before they lead to downtime.    

According to Guy Warren, CEO at ITRS Group: "While rapid rates of transformation certainly provide opportunity for firms, it can also exacerbate their vulnerabilities. As well as compromising firms' ability to maintain current service standards, this rapid shift is laying firms in the region bare to cyber threats"  

"But perhaps most concerningly, this pace of transformation is outpacing the ability of firms' IT solutions to predict and react to issues before they lead to downtime.

"While our data shows that most APAC-based firms believe that their IT solutions can predict issues before they lead to downtime, our survey reveals that the region has the highest rates of longer-term outages. And with digital transformation rates only set to increase, this issue will continue to accelerate. 

"More robust operational resilience is key not only to firms' regulatory compliance, but their very survival. The reputational damage and customer losses following repeated failures cannot be underestimated. Firms must act now or face the consequences later." 

For the full results from the survey, 'Financial institutions forgo critical IT spend: a global survey on operational resilience' click here.