“Every additional vendor you have increases your third-party risk which is quickly being recognised as a key focus area for hackers to try and exploit,” Kervin says.
“Minimising your vendor sprawl will reduce your potential exposure.
“Another benefit from reducing sprawl will be minimising the fragmentation of your organisation’s data which may significantly impact an effective implementation of AI.”
Elliot Colquhoun.
Finance leaders looking to establish this kind of trust, in order to future-proof their business, should start by tackling the complexity of vendor sprawl, says Elliot Colquhoun, vice president of IT and Security with global financial technology provider Airwallex.
There was a time when businesses were chasing the hottest individual player in every niche fintech space, but industry’s view of finance vendor sprawl and consolidation has changed significantly over the last five years, Colquhoun says.
“The pendulum has swung the other way, particularly in the banking space, where it’s been recognised that a consolidated platform delivers better outcomes, improved continuity and enhanced security,” he says.
“Consolidating on established and trusted fintech partners is also important for finance leaders when it comes to determining an integrated AI strategy which looks two to three years down the road.”
A Unified View for Global Growth and AI
One of the challenges created by vendor sprawl, which occurs when an organisation relies on an unmanageable number of different applications and vendors, is data fragmentation.
This not only increases a business’s attack surface (potential entry points or vulnerabilities that can be attacked) but also hampers efforts to grant AI tools a holistic view in order to uncover more in-depth insights.
Unification of digital tools enhances business security and efficiency. Credit: iStock
When it comes to banking, finance leaders looking to future-proof their business benefit from unified financial tools which allow them to manage multiple banks, currencies and jurisdictions within a single interface.
This approach makes it much easier for businesses to expand into new markets, while avoiding the complexity that comes from integrating with different banks.
“As businesses grow, managing different bank accounts across regions, and the flow of funds between them, becomes a major pain point unless they have the ability to manage it all from within a single interface,” Colquhoun says.
“As we look into the future, AI can leverage that unified view to streamline operations, better understand how the business’s finances operate and provide actionable insights to give the business a competitive edge.”
