Mr. Braun, IT Manager of a mid-sized software service provider, is preparing for a new challenge. The EU regulation DORA (“Digital Operational Resilience Act”) is approaching – and with it, strict requirements for ICT resilience and risk management. For many companies, this initially sounds like additional effort. But this is exactly where a major opportunity lies: compliance becomes a driver of strategic advancement. ServiceNow provides a framework that not only supports regulatory compliance, but also strengthens operational performance.
What is DORA and why is it relevant?
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is an EU regulation that requires financial institutions and their IT service providers to harden their digital systems against outages, cyberattacks, and disruptions. The regulation covers key areas such as risk management, incident response, ICT audits, third-party risk, and recovery strategies — and mandates continuous testing and documentation.
Even if you are currently not yet legally bound by DORA, it is worth taking a closer look: the requirements are widely regarded as best practices for robust digital strategies and increase your long-term competitiveness.
Challenges for mid-sized companies
Typical stumbling blocks on the path to digital resilience:
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Fragmented processes with no central risk control
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Manual reports and long lead times for audits
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Unclear recovery objectives (RTO/RPO) in case of an incident
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Lack of transparency regarding third-party providers and critical dependencies
How ServiceNow helps – practical and holistic
ServiceNow delivers structured solutions for DORA relevance:
Operational Resilience and Service Reliability
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Definition and monitoring of Service Level Objectives (SLOs) such as availability, performance, or incident response times
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Automated alerting, on-call management, and escalations to ensure DORA-compliant reaction times
Integrated Risk & Compliance Management (IRM)
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Establishment of a powerful risk register with policy and compliance workspaces, business continuity plans, and third-party risk analyses
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Automated orchestration of DORA-related controls and continuous risk monitoring
Secure data operations & recovery
Automated reporting & audit readiness
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Dashboards, scorecards, and reports for DORA compliance can be fully automated — including distribution to stakeholders
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Audit trails, action tracking, and evidence documentation are managed digitally and verifiably
Practical examples from mid-sized companies
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SLA monitoring: A banking service provider tracks critical service times automatically and identifies when DORA-compliant response targets are at risk.
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Risk automation: An insurance company creates risk registries, monitors vulnerabilities, and automates the control lifecycle.
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Restoration exercises: An IT service provider documents recovery capabilities through regular tests, providing complete audit-ready evidence — all digitally via ServiceNow.
Facts & Figures
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DORA applies from 17 January 2025 to many financial service providers and their ICT suppliers. The implementation timeline is running.
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Automated compliance processes can significantly reduce reporting efforts — while increasing transparency and resilience.
Conclusion – Compliance as a strategic strength
DORA is more than an obligation — it is an opportunity for resilience. Those who begin early to strengthen their IT resilience gain clear competitive advantages: greater trust, lower risk, and more flexible operations.
With ServiceNow, you can shape this journey convincingly — digital, resilient, and compliant.
Do you also want to leverage compliance not just as a duty but as a strategic advantage?
Use the contact form or click “Learn more” to start your DORA resilience journey with ServiceNow.
