Video | Third-Party Resilience: The Competitive Advantage You’re Overlooking

with Brian Kostek

In today’s financial services landscape, resilience isn’t just a defensive strategy — it’s a competitive advantage. As threats evolve and disruptions become inevitable, the ability to adapt quickly and ensure continuity is a hallmark of leading organizations.

In this video from The Modern CIO Dilemma , Protiviti Managing Director Brian Kostek dives into why third-party resilience is a critical focus for CIOs of financial institutions. From understanding key resilience capabilities to evaluating third-party preparedness, the conversation provides actionable insights on how to strengthen your ecosystem and maintain trust with clients in an unpredictable environment.

Building Resilience: Beyond the Playbook

Resilience starts with preparation, but real-world events rarely follow the script. While business-continuity and disaster-recovery plans are essential, they’re not enough. Kostek emphasizes the need for financial institutions to:

• Collaborate with third parties to identify and address weaknesses
• Invest in capabilities like bare-metal restores and minimal backups to enable rapid recovery
• Shift from rigid contractual objectives to agile, real-time solutions during disruptions.

Rethinking Third-Party Risk Management

Traditional due diligence questionnaires are no longer sufficient to assess third-party resilience. Instead, Kostek advocates for a more holistic approach:

• Focus on asking the right questions — the ones that truly measure resilience.
• Move beyond check-the-box exercises to evaluate third parties’ ability to demonstrate adaptability and readiness in dynamic scenarios.

What Sets Resilient Partners Apart

Financial institutions need to recognize the difference between outdated approaches and true resilience. Third parties that rely solely on legacy mechanisms like business-continuity plans may fall short when disruptions occur. The most reliable partners are those who innovate and adapt, ensuring that their resilience capabilities align with the realities of today’s challenges.

What Today’s CIOs Should Take Away

Resilience is not a static capability — it’s an ongoing commitment. By rethinking how they evaluate and collaborate with third parties, financial institutions can build ecosystems that are not only prepared for disruption but also positioned to thrive in its wake.

Protiviti helps financial services firms navigate complexity and modernize with confidence, bringing clarity to the critical intersection of resilience, risk and innovation.

The Modern CIO Dilemma

In this exclusive series from Protiviti, explore quick-hit insights and executive perspectives on the evolving role of the CIO in financial services. The Modern CIO Dilemma distills key conversations into video briefings and podcast episodes. You’ll hear directly from finance transformation leaders on how CIOs are tackling today’s most pressing issues — from regulatory uncertainty to payment modernization. Whether you're rethinking your data architecture, implementing AI responsibly or preparing for the next compliance shift, this series brings clarity to complexity — fast.

Watch the series