Financial institutions have been required to comply with the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) since January 17, 2025. This EU regulation was developed to sustainably strengthen the resilience of financial institutions against cyberattacks and IT failures. Today, the focus is no longer on meeting a deadline, but on permanent, audit-proof compliance with the requirements. In this guide, you will learn which points are crucial and how they can be implemented using the BPM and GRC software solution Aeneis.
Risk management and assessment
Requirement: Financial companies must continuously check and assess their IT systems and processes for vulnerabilities. DORA requires a comprehensive ICT risk management framework that is regularly updated, monitored, and integrated into the organization. Risks must not be viewed in isolation, but must be analyzed in the context of the underlying business processes.
Solution: With the BPM and GRC software Aeneis financial institutions have an integrated platform that combines process management and risk management. Processes can be modeled, documented, and optimized while risks are simultaneously identified, assessed, and monitored. Especially for mission-critical processes, this creates end-to-end transparency regarding vulnerabilities, responsibilities, and measures.
Incident management and response
Requirement: DORA requires structured processes for managing IT disruptions and security incidents. Financial companies must detect, classify, document, and report incidents to the competent authorities on time. Clear escalation paths and defined responsibilities are mandatory.
Solution: With Aeneis, banks and other financial companies use an integrated incident management system that provides both preventive and reactive support. Risks and threats can be identified and assessed at an early stage, while incidents that have occurred are documented, prioritized, and tracked in a structured manner. Standardized processes allow for the definition of clear escalation paths and response plans. This ensures that reporting obligations are met and that companies remain capable of acting in an emergency.
Operational resilience stress testing
Requirement: Financial institutions must regularly conduct simulations and resilience tests to demonstrate their ability to manage crises and the robustness of their systems and processes. This is not just about planning measures, but about their actual effectiveness.
Solution: The ISMS in Aeneis, which is based on international standards such as ISO 27001, supports the continuous monitoring, review, and improvement of security measures. In combination with process management and, where applicable, BCMS functionalities, critical workflows can be identified, tested, and optimized. This creates a closed-loop system for the sustainable assurance of operational resilience.
Third-party risk management
Requirement: Companies that provide critical IT services to financial institutions, such as cloud providers, must also meet DORA requirements. Financial institutions are obligated to comprehensively manage their third-party providers, assess risks, and maintain an information register of their dependencies.
Solution: Aeneis enables centralized management of third-party providers and their relationships to processes and risks. Requirements can be documented, contracts managed, and audits conducted in a structured manner. By linking these to the underlying processes, complete transparency is created regarding critical dependencies, especially for mission-critical processes.
Reporting systems and documentation
Requirement: Financial institutions must record IT-related incidents in a structured manner in accordance with regulatory requirements and report them to the competent authorities on time. The requirements include clear classifications, defined reporting channels, and complete documentation.
Solution: Banks can centrally document and manage their incidents in Aeneis. Through structured processes and integrated reporting functions, reports can be prepared efficiently and created in a traceable manner. Responsibilities and workflows are clearly defined, ensuring smooth and audit-proof processing.
Conclusion:
Compliance with DORA is essential to avoid financial penalties, legal risks, and reputational damage. At the same time, the regulation offers the opportunity to make your organization more resilient and transparent.
The BPM and GRC software Aeneis helps financial institutions effectively implement these requirements by creating transparency and traceability, enabling process-oriented and integrated risk management, structuring incident management and response, simplifying the integration and monitoring of third-party providers, and supporting the systematic execution of resilience tests.
The focus is on mastering mission-critical processes. Only when these processes are clearly defined, managed, and continuously improved can digital operational resilience be sustainably guaranteed.
Don't just meet DORA regulations—strengthen your resilience to a high standard with the BPM and GRC software solution Aeneis. Test the software or schedule a live demo.
What is DORA and who does the regulation apply to?
DORA is an EU regulation to strengthen digital operational resilience in the financial sector. Since January 17, 2025, it has been in force for banks, insurance companies and other financial service providers as well as their IT service providers.
What does DORA mean for financial institutions today?
Financial institutions must meet the requirements on a permanent basis and be able to prove them at any time. The focus is on continuous risk management, clearly defined processes and audit-proof documentation.
What role do mission critical processes play at DORA?
Mission critical processes are success-critical processes whose failure has a direct impact on business operations. DORA requires precisely these processes to be managed transparently and regularly reviewed.
How does Aeneis support the implementation of DORA?
Aeneis combines process management and GRC in a central platform. Risks, processes, controls and measures are linked together, creating an integrated management system.
How can DORA incident reports be organized efficiently?
Through clearly defined processes, roles, and responsibilities. Aeneis helps to model these processes and implement them in a binding manner.
What do financial institutions need to consider when managing third-party providers?
They must assess, document, and monitor risks from IT service providers. An information register is mandatory and must be maintained regularly.
What is the significance of resilience testing under DORA?
Resilience testing serves to prove that safety and emergency measures actually work. They are a central part of regulatory requirements.
How does DORA differ from previous regulations such as BAIT?
DORA creates a uniform European framework and replaces many national requirements. The focus is more on holistic digital resilience.
Is DORA relevant in connection with NIS-2?
For financial institutions, DORA is the primary legal framework. NIS-2 may be relevant in addition, but it is not the focus.
Why is an integrated BPM and GRC approach important?
Only by combining processes, risks, and controls can companies effectively manage their resilience and meet regulatory requirements efficiently.
