In January 2025, the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) officially took effect, and it’s reshaping how financial entities across Europe manage digital risk. However, while the regulation clearly states the “what” of its parameters, it becomes less prescriptive about how to implement them. As your organization navigates DORA regulations, it’s helpful to know what DORA compliance looks like in practice – and how DORA risk management software can help you meet those requirements with confidence.

What Is DORA Compliance?

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is an EU regulation that looks to strengthen the ability of financial institutions to withstand, respond to, and recover from ICT (Information and Communication Technology) disruptions. Unlike previous frameworks that focused mainly on financial resilience, DORA addresses digital resilience by specifically placing risk management, business continuity, incident response, third-party oversight, and systems testing under one regulatory spotlight.

First introduced in 2020, the regulation officially took effect in January 2025 and applies across the entirety of the EU’s financial sector, as well as those ICT providers who serve the financial sector.

Who Has to Comply with DORA?

DORA applies to financial entities operating in or serving the EU, including banks, credit institutions, investment firms, payment institutions, fintechs, and more, along with their ICT third-party service providers, such as cloud platforms.

If you’re part of any financial ecosystem in the EU – or serve one – DORA likely applies to your business.

What Does It Mean to Be DORA-Compliant?

DORA introduces an interconnected set of obligations across five pillars: ICT risk management, ICT-related incident reporting, digital operational resilience testing, ICT third-party risk management, and information sharing. Unlike checklist-style regulation, DORA is principles-based, meaning it sets clear objectives but doesn’t prescribe exactly how to meet them. This can leave organizations struggling to interpret the rules and effectively comply. Getting your business DORA-compliant involves:

  • Mapping internal processes to the five pillars
  • Building documentation and audit trails
  • Demonstrating resilience through controls and testing
  • Proving oversight of third parties
  • Coordinating cross-functional teams across risk, IT, compliance, legal, and procurement

DORA compliance can be challenging, as these domains normally don’t sit in any single department. These disciplines usually span multiple teams, increasing the risk of redundancy or gaps in accountability. That’s why investing in DORA risk management software can make the difference on your path to operational resilience.

Why DORA Risk Management Software Is Key

Given DORA’s cross-functional needs, trying to manage compliance through disconnected systems can be a mess. Without the right technology, organizations can face challenges, such as:

  • Siloed information and inconsistent reporting
  • Duplicate processes across business units
  • Incomplete visibility into risk posture and control effectiveness
  • Delayed incident response and missed regulatory guidelines

This is where DORA risk management software becomes essential. Technology can help by:

  • Centralizing ICT risk management: Gives teams a shared view of threats, controls, and actions
  • Automating incident response and reporting: Reduces the burden and ensures timeliness
  • Managing third-party risk at scale: Implements dashboards and assessments
  • Streamlining testing and evidence collection: Prepares teams for audits and resilience assessments
  • Enabling collaboration: Ensures all stakeholders operate from a single source of truth driven by connected data

No single tool can manage every part of DORA, but having integrated platforms that support most of these requirements can reduce the cost and complexity of compliance.

How to Find the Right DORA Risk Management Software

When searching for a software solution to support your DORA compliance journey, first assess the specific needs of your business. Consider which teams may need to use this solution and how it might be implemented. Be sure that your chosen software solutions can:

  • Map risks to controls across your ICT environment
  • Provide a framework for classifying and escalating incidents
  • Define business continuity policy, plans, procedures, roles, and responsibilities
  • Track continuity testing and activities and report on gaps
  • Assess and monitor third-party providers
  • Create an audit-ready trail of actions, decisions, and communications

Look for tools that are easily adaptable to your teams and can scale alongside your regulatory obligations, especially as DORA matures and expectations grow.

DORA marks a major shift in how digital risk is regulated, and compliance isn’t optional. DORA risk management software doesn’t just help you meet these regulatory requirements. While the regulation sets a high bar, technology can help your business get there. Implementing DORA risk management software that supports governance, risk, compliance, and resilience can help your business streamline adherence to the five DORA pillars.

Whether you’re just starting your DORA compliance journey or looking to optimize your current system, now is the time to assess how DORA risk management software can fit into your strategy.

For more on compliance, check out Corporate Compliance: The Definitive Guide, and learn more about operationalizing DORA in your business by downloading our fact sheet, Operationalize the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) with Riskonnect.