Why DORA Compliance Is a Competitive Advantage for Software Vendors in 2025

Introduction to the Digital Operational Resilience Act

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a landmark EU regulation that sets a new standard for digital operational resilience in the financial sector. As digital finance becomes the backbone of the European economy, DORA aims to ensure that financial entities and ICT service providers can withstand, respond to, and recover from cyber threats and ICT disruptions. This operational resilience act, which takes effect across the EU, is designed to protect the financial sector from the growing risks associated with digital transformation and cyber incidents.

DORA applies not only to banks, investment firms, and other financial institutions, but also to ICT service providers operating within the financial services ecosystem. By establishing clear requirements for digital operational resilience, the regulation compels organizations to strengthen their cybersecurity posture and ensure the continuity of critical financial services. The European Union’s commitment to DORA reflects a proactive approach to safeguarding the financial sector, supporting stability and trust in an era where cyber threats are ever-evolving. For software vendors and ICT providers, understanding and implementing DORA is now essential to remain competitive and relevant in the digital finance landscape.

Understanding Operational Resilience

Operational resilience is the ability of financial entities to continue delivering financial services, even in the face of ICT disruptions, cyber threats, or system failures. In today’s digital-first environment, financial institutions are increasingly dependent on communication technology and information and communication technology (ICT) to operate efficiently. This reliance makes financial entities vulnerable to a range of digital risks, from cyberattacks to technical outages.

DORA compliance addresses these challenges by requiring financial institutions and their tech partners to adopt comprehensive ICT risk management frameworks. This includes regular digital operational resilience testing, robust incident reporting processes for ICT-related incidents, and continuous monitoring of ICT risks. By embedding these key components into their operations, financial entities can mitigate risks, ensure business continuity, and maintain customer confidence—even when facing emerging threats.

For tech companies and ICT service providers, understanding operational resilience means more than just meeting regulatory standards. It’s about building a cybersecurity posture that supports the financial sector’s need for reliability and trust. Effective risk management and operational resilience are now critical differentiators, helping organizations navigate the complexities of DORA and deliver secure, uninterrupted financial services in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

As the  takes effect across the EU in January 2025, most software vendors see it as a regulatory hurdle. But forward-looking companies are discovering that DORA is more than just compliance — it’s a strategic differentiator. Achieving DORA compliance can create competitive advantages by demonstrating superior resilience and security, helping software vendors stand out from their rivals.

In this article, we explore why becoming DORA-compliant doesn’t just protect your company from risk. While there is a financial burden associated with implementing compliance—such as investing in cybersecurity infrastructure and training—the long-term benefits include positioning your company as a trusted partner for regulated clients, boosting your credibility in RFPs, and helping win and retain long-term financial-sector deals.

Why Procurement Teams Care About the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)

As of 2025, EU-based financial institutions are legally required to evaluate the DORA-readiness of their technology vendors. This has immediate implications for procurement, vendor onboarding, and contract renewals. Managing third party relationships and implementing robust third party risk management are now essential components of procurement due diligence to ensure operational resilience and regulatory compliance.

“We’ve seen procurement checklists expand to include detailed questions about ICT risk controls, resilience testing, third-party dependency mapping, and the scrutiny of third party vendors, third party providers, and third party service providers for risk management and compliance.”

If you can’t answer those questions with clear, auditable documentation, you may be dropped from the shortlist — regardless of price or features.

Effective party risk management and comprehensive supply chain oversight are now required to ensure compliance with DORA and existing regulations.

DORA Is Now a Procurement Filter

• Due diligence forms include ICT compliance sections
• Due diligence forms now require identification and assessment of critical third party providers and ICT third party providers
• Non-compliant vendors are considered high risk
• Clients need documentation for their own audits

Being DORA-compliant helps you stay in the game.

Win More RFPs with a Proven Compliance Story

Financial clients need tech partners they can trust. When you present a clear compliance posture, you:

• Earn stakeholder confidence faster
• Reduce friction in legal and infosec review
• Shorten procurement cycles
• Demonstrate robust processes for reporting ICT related incidents and conducting regular penetration testing

RFP Questions You'll Be Ready For

• Do you have a risk register and governance framework?
• Can you map your dependencies and escalation paths?
• Do you run incident simulations or red teaming?
• Do you conduct threat led penetration testing as part of your resilience strategy?
• Have you performed a gap analysis to align your current cybersecurity measures with DORA requirements?
• How fast can you respond to a cyberattack or outage?

Instead of scrambling, you’ll be able to say: “Yes, here is our DORA compliance documentation.”

Strengthen Your Brand in the Financial Sector

Trust is currency in financial software. DORA compliance signals:

• Maturity in your internal processes
• Scalability of your service delivery
• Readiness to support enterprise accounts

DORA regulation matters because it enhances brand reputation and builds client trust by ensuring robust cybersecurity and risk management practices.

DORA places significant emphasis on operational resilience and third-party risk management, which are essential for establishing a strong, trustworthy brand in the financial sector.

In a sector where risk-aversion is the norm, this positioning can open doors.

According to a 2023 Deloitte survey, 68% of financial services executives say that a vendor’s ability to demonstrate operational resilience is a key factor in selection decisions.

(*Source: Deloitte, “Global Risk Management Survey, 13th edition”)

Improve Customer Retention and Upsell Potential

Contract renewals increasingly require fresh due diligence.

By having DORA compliance built-in:

• You make renewals seamless
• You build stronger customer relationships
• You create upsell potential for sensitive workloads
• You help clients deliver financial services without interruption, supporting their regulatory obligations and ensuring the continuity of financial services offered

Example

A client expanding into MiCA-regulated crypto services may ask:

"Can your solution prove digital resilience for critical assets?"

If you already have the artifacts, the answer is easy — and profitable.

Enable Partner Ecosystems and Co-Selling

Want to integrate with a major core banking platform or cloud marketplace?

Many partners now require proof of compliance to enable joint GTM or ecosystem exposure.

DORA is part of the broader digital finance package, which the European Commission published to harmonize protective standards and support innovation across the EU financial sector. The European supervisory authorities are responsible for developing regulatory technical standards and implementation guidelines to ensure DORA compliance.

DORA compliance:

• Accelerates partner onboarding
• Supports joint go-to-market campaigns
• Eliminates risk objections from partner security teams

It’s not just about risk reduction — it’s about growth.

How SH Helps Vendors Turn Compliance into Opportunity

We support SaaS vendors, API platforms, and dev teams in building not just documentation — but a full narrative that enhances sales.

We also help vendors who deliver ICT services to financial institutions meet DORA requirements, ensuring their offerings align with cybersecurity and compliance standards.

We Provide:

• DORA kits tailored to tech vendors
• Mapping tools and risk frameworks
• Presentation templates for procurement
• TLPT and red team planning support
• Advisory on audit simulation and vendor onboarding

Case Study: Siemens Financial Services

We worked with Siemens Financial Services to build an internal sales tool used across four European markets. The tool featured:

• Audit-ready architecture
• Secure access and continuity measures
• Policy and escalation plans aligned with DORA

This solution can also be adapted for other financial entities subject to DORA, such as banks, insurance companies, and investment firms.

"Startup House is our trusted software development partner, with whom we have worked for many years." — Piotr Stępień, Senior Project Manager, Siemens Financial Services

This partnership helped Siemens meet internal audit standards and prepare for the new regulatory environment.

Final Thoughts

DORA isn't just a box to check — it's a lever for growth.

Tech vendors who embrace compliance early will:

• Win more RFPs
• Reduce onboarding friction
• Build lasting financial-sector relationships
• Future-proof their enterprise readiness