Pielen & Partner Contact

Industry

Financial Services

Scaling trust.

The industry

Trust is the foundation. Scaling the task.

Banks, insurers, and asset managers face a double challenge: regulatory density coupled with the modernization of legacy IT landscapes. Standardization, automation, and new technologies like AI require strong governance, while stability and availability allow no compromises. We manage programs where both must succeed simultaneously.

Challenges

What clients in this industry are struggling in this industry.

Five structural areas of tension that we repeatedly encounter in projects.

DORA, NIS2, BAIT, MaRisk - regulatory requirements are becoming denser and more audit-proof. Operational resilience is no longer a project, but a permanent operation.
SOC operations, incident response, and third-party risk will become board-level matters. Regulators expect full transparency regarding supply chains and outsourcing.
Core systems from three decades must be migrated, with the highest demands on stability and availability simultaneously. Cutover without downtime requires the highest level of discipline.
Regulatory programs, IT transformations, and process digitalization are running concurrently. High coordination effort, many stakeholders, little tolerance for error.
AI and process mining offer efficiency potential – but compliance, integration, and controllability must be considered from the outset.

What we are called to do

Typical projects, where we create impact.

Building and controlling DORA compliance programs — operational resilience as continuous operation.

ICT Risk Management, Third-Party Register, Audit Preparation for DORA, NIS2, BAIT, and MaRisk.

Multi-year core system migrations — program management, test management, and secure cut-over.

IT transformations and infrastructure changes without operational disruptions — with clear governance and robust reporting.

AI Use Case Identification, PoCs and Productive Integration — Sustainable Instead of Isolated.

Process mining for the analysis and optimization of end-to-end processes, digitalization initiatives with governance requirements.

BCM and Disaster Recovery Exercises for Mission-Critical Processes.

Restart concepts, emergency organization, and SOC operations — structures that hold up in an emergency, not just in an audit.

Our added value

Regulation is not an obstacle. It is the framework.

Holistic approach encompassing IT management, regulatory compliance, process management, and technology implementation — end-to-end rather than isolated individual solutions.

Regulatory depth

DORA, NIS2, BAIT, MaRisk, BCBS 239 — we translate requirements into operational reality, audit-proof and lived.

Migration Without Downtime

Experience in core system migrations — cutovers that run without the business noticing.

Methodological strength

IT Organization, Governance, and Process Models — Measurable Results in Complex Transformation Programs.

Operational Responsibility

No PowerPoint ping-pong — we take on steering roles and deliver up to productive go-live.

Relevant Expertise

What we contribute to this industry.

The performance areas we most frequently use in financial projects.