Understanding DORA and Its Impact on Customer Communications Management
Shawn Phillips 
April 3th, 2025
Table of Contents
In this next installment of our CCM Compliance Check-Up series we look at the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)—a critical and relatively new piece of legislation that applies to financial institutions in the European Union (EU).
What is DORA and Why Does It Matter?
Can you imagine a critical IT failure disrupting your production of customer communications—as might occur during a major service outage? With the rise of digital technologies and an increasingly interconnected world, it’s more important than ever for financial institutions to stay up and running in the face of unexpected challenges.
DORA was introduced by the European Union (EU) in January 2025 and is designed to strengthen the digital resilience of financial services organizations. Its primary goal is to ensure that critical systems—including those supporting customer communications—remain operational during events like cyberattacks or technical failures.
DORA sets clear requirements for managing digital risks, reporting incidents, and overseeing third-party providers. These measures help organizations strengthen security and maintain compliance in an increasingly complex digital environment.
For IT, operations, and compliance leaders, understanding DORA’s mandates is crucial. Not only does it support secure, reliable customer interactions, but it also helps organizations build a more robust and resilient digital infrastructure.
Why DORA is Crucial for Customer Communications
For professionals handling customer communications in industries like financial services, DORA is more than just a set of rules—it’s a guideline for how to ensure that your customer-facing communication channels stay open and reliable, no matter the situation. Here’s why DORA matters:
- Maintaining Service During Disruptions: If an IT failure occurs, customer-facing systems such as websites, call centers, or email communications need to keep functioning smoothly. DORA’s risk management and incident response requirements will help businesses ensure customers can still get the information they need during a crisis.
- Strengthening Customer Trust: Customers are more likely to trust companies that are transparent about their operations and can quickly recover from disruptions. By complying with DORA, businesses can show they are taking the necessary steps to protect customer data and communication channels.
- Staying Compliant with Regulations: For companies in the financial sector or those handling sensitive data, failing to comply with DORA can lead to significant fines or reputational damage. Ensuring your customer communications meet these standards helps your business avoid fines while building long-term customer loyalty.
Key Requirements of DORA
DORA includes several important requirements for businesses to follow. Below are the most relevant that IT, operations, and compliance professionals need to keep in mind:
1. Risk Management for IT Systems
Financial institutions (and other firms following DORA) are required to implement strong IT risk management strategies. This means identifying any weaknesses in their digital systems that could disrupt operations and putting processes in place to mitigate those risks. For example, businesses need to:
- Regularly assess their IT infrastructure and identify potential threats
- Implement proactive measures to prevent disruptions from happening
- Devise a recovery plan and put it in place should things go wrong
2. Incident Reporting
DORA makes it clear that any major IT-related incident, such as a cyberattack or a system failure, must be reported within a specific timeframe. For financial firms, this is crucial, as transparency helps regulators and customers understand what happened, why, and how it’s being addressed.
3. Third-Party Oversight
Many financial institutions rely on third-party vendors for essential services like cloud computing or data storage. Under DORA, these companies must also meet strict standards of operational resilience. Organizations are now required to assess the risks associated with these third-party providers and make sure they have a backup plan if something goes wrong with their services.
Steps to Compliance: What You Can Do Now
With DORA’s enforcement deadline having occurred in January 2025, organizations not already compliant must take action now. Here are some key steps businesses can take to ensure they are DORA-compliant:
1. Assess Your IT Systems
It’s crucial to evaluate your current IT systems and identify potential weaknesses. Are your systems prepared to handle disruptions? Do you have disaster recovery plans in place? Now’s the time to figure that out.
2. Implement Risk Management Strategies
DORA requires businesses to have comprehensive risk management plans. That means putting in place protocols to reduce risks, monitor systems continuously, and respond quickly if something goes wrong.
3. Strengthen Third-Party Relationships
If you rely on third-party vendors, such as cloud providers, make sure they comply with DORA standards too.
4. Set Up Incident Reporting Processes
Prepare for the possibility of incidents and ensure that your company has a clear plan for reporting disruptions. This includes having dedicated teams and systems in place to quickly identify and communicate issues to the relevant authorities.
Conclusion
Now that DORA has come into effect, financial institutions and their third-party service providers must ensure they have robust frameworks in place to meet the regulation’s standards. From strengthening ICT risk management to enhancing third-party oversight, the steps required for compliance will play a significant role in safeguarding customer communications.
DORA is just one aspect of a growing regulatory landscape. Our next and final blog in this CCM Compliance Check-Up series will explore new and changing accessibility regulations impacting customer communication strategies.
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How can you stay ahead of constantly evolving compliance regulations? This series updates readers on changing regulations impacting Customer Communications Management (CCM). You’ll learn about emerging AI regulations, the proposed U.S. Improving Disclosure for Investors Act, DORA, and updates to various and accessibility standards.
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Shawn Phillips
Shawn brings over 25 years of tech and customer experience expertise to his role as Product Manager for MHC NorthStar CCM. He is driven by a simple philosophy: great technology should make everyone’s day better—customers and employees alike. His practical, hands-on approach helps companies streamline how they talk to their clients, making every message count. Before joining MHC, Shawn was employed at Heart of the Customer, where he worked with Fortune 100 companies to improve how they connect with customers—everything from reducing pain points to enhancing key moments in the customer journey.
