TL;DR: Demystifying DORA for SMBs

What is DORA & Why Should You Care?

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is an EU regulation designed to ensure financial institutions, and their tech providers can withstand cyber threats, IT failures, and digital disruptions. It took effect on January 17, 2025, and impacts more than 22,000 businesses across the EU, including many tech-led SMBs.

If you’re a fintech startup, payment provider, Insurtech, investment firm, or a third-party IT vendor serving financial services, you need to comply with DORA’s risk management, cybersecurity, and resilience standards. Even if you’re not strictly regulated, your financial clients will demand compliance from their tech partners.

Who Does It Affect?

DORA directly applies to financial businesses like:

• Fintechs, payment platforms, crypto startups, digital banks, Insurtech’s, and asset management firms
• Investment platforms, lending startups, and crowdfunding services

DORA also impacts third-party tech providers, including:

• Cloud service providers, SaaS vendors, cybersecurity firms, fintech API providers, and IT outsourcing companies
• Non-financial tech firms (e.g., e-commerce, healthtech) who can benefit by adopting DORA’s resilience principles to prevent costly disruptions.

Why SMBs Should Embrace DORA

DORA isn’t just another compliance burden; it’s an opportunity to strengthen your business.

• Stronger security & fewer outages → Minimize cyberattacks & downtime
• More customer & partner trust → Win contracts & increase credibility
• Better business continuity → Reduce operational risks & financial losses
• Regulatory compliance → Avoid fines & legal penalties

Example: A small investment firm used DORA’s proportionality principle to scale its resilience testing affordably. Simple vulnerability scans, disaster recovery drills, and incident simulations improved security, built investor confidence, and ensured full compliance.

How to Prepare for DORA (Best Practices for SMBs)

1. Assess Your Scope & Risks: Identify if your business is directly affected or indirectly impacted via third-party contracts.
2. Form a DORA Compliance Team: Even small teams should involve IT, operations, legal, and leadership.
3. Strengthen Cyber Defences: Improve security controls, backup systems, and monitoring tools.
4. Develop an Incident Response Plan: Clearly define how to detect, respond to, and recover from IT disruptions.
5. Regular Testing & Resilience Drills: Conduct vulnerability scans, penetration tests, and cyberattack simulations.
6. Manage Third-Party Risk: Ensure your cloud/SaaS vendors comply with security requirements.
7. Document & Continuously Improve: Keep records, update policies, and train teams regularly.

Final Takeaway

DORA isn’t just a regulation; it’s a competitive advantage. SMBs that proactively strengthen resilience will attract customers, avoid costly downtime, and future-proof their operations.

Embrace DORA as a blueprint for digital resilience. The businesses that invest in stability, security, and compliance today will be the ones thriving tomorrow.