Future of Finance Rests on Network Security

More than 60 percent of banking customers recently surveyed indicated that they consider banks with mobile-banking applications superior to those without. About 77 percent of respondents said that mobile-banking offerings show the institution is continually looking to satisfy the diverse needs of customers.

Such statistics are an indicator of how the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) industry will increasingly turn to mobile and other network services to strengthen customer relations and increase revenue over the coming months. But even as the BFSI industry increases its reliance on such networks, service providers must focus on ensuring the security and quality of their networks to attract financial services customers.

Understanding the opportunities and challenges of network security in the financial services vertical is the focus of this month’s Heavy Reading IP Services Insider, "Service Providers Hit Pay Dirt In Financial Services Sector." This report examines security issues in the BFSI industry today, along with those that are expected in the next 24 months. It examines the opportunities that service providers have in the market, including areas with the most growth potential for the next 24 months. It also examines challenges the industry presents, explores future trends that will shape this market, and offers a comparative analysis of available solutions from eight leading providers.

Companies analyzed in this report include: AirMagnet Inc. ; Arbor Networks ; Aruba Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: ARUN); Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO); Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA); JDSU (Nasdaq: JDSU; Toronto: JDU); Spirent Communications plc ; and Tektronix Inc. .

Because the recession hit the BFSI industry particularly hard, financial organizations are looking for ways to make their services more accessible and more attractive to customers. This is especially true for customers younger than 40, because they are the heaviest users of mobile applications and services, and they are easily driven to services that utilize such technologies.

Network security is critical for mobile banking, mPayments, electronic wallets and similar apps to succeed -- not only because customers demand it, but because the federal government has instituted regulations that require it.

As such, service providers should be able to demonstrate the security of their current network infrastructure, and test and verify the security of planned deployments. They should also be looking for ways to provide managed security services for the BFSI industry, with an eye toward eventually building, deploying, securing and operating the networks for financial services customers.

Service providers that are most successful in the BFSI industry will understand and comply with federal regulations, guarantee network security against attacks, and become an indispensable resource in the development and deployment of network-based banking applications and services.

— Denise Culver, Research Analyst, Heavy Reading IP Services Insider

The report, Service Providers Hit Pay Dirt In Financial Services Sector, is available as part of an annual subscription (6 bimonthly issues) to Heavy Reading IP Services Insider, priced at $1,595. Individual reports are available for $900. For more information, or to subscribe, please visit: www.heavyreading.com/entvoip.