The pandemic may not be over, but the excuses are – so it’s time to get your house in order, advise Theta Lake
The forbearance of regulators as the pandemic took hold provided much-needed flexibility for organisations, so they could prioritize the delivery of services by work forces that had become remote almost overnight. Employers moved fast to roll out collaboration tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Webex to keep staff connected and productive – and with the overriding need for business continuity, oversight was sometimes more of an afterthought.
Fast-forward eighteen months, with collaboration tools now integral to the modern workplace, the focus is firmly back on supervision – and the compliance and security risks associated with platform usage. Organisations must now turn their attention to ensuring oversight and accountability in virtual environments mirrors that which we expect in physical ones.
In Autumn 2021, there’s no longer room for excuses and in the case of financial services, regulators around the world have been clear in that they expect regulatory obligations to be met, says Stacey English, Theta Lake’s Director of Market Intelligence.
“Now this much time has passed, regulators in every market are expecting that the compliance controls are as robust in remote working as they are in the office,” she explained. The latest expectations set out by the FCA reminds firms that ‘any form of remote or hybrid working adopted should not risk or compromise the firm’s ability to follow all rules, regulatory standards and obligations, or lead to a failure to meet them’. With 91% of organizations surveyed in Theta Lake’s latest research having between 2 and 6 collaboration platforms deployed, it’s no surprise that 83% have restricted usage of valuable features as they grapple with the complexity and challenges of meeting compliance, security and privacy requirements.
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