What is DORA?
DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) is a European Union regulation that aims to ensure all participants in the financial system are able to withstand, respond to, and recover from ICT (information and communications technology) disruptions and threats. It applies to banks, insurance companies, investment firms, and even third-party IT service providers like cloud vendors.
In short: if your organization operates in financial services in the EU, DORA affects you. And if you rely on third-party ICT providers — which almost everyone does — your contracts with those providers need to reflect DORA's requirements. For a detailed look at how DORA affects vendor contracts specifically, read How DORA Impacts Third-Party Risk Management and How CLM Tools Help.
Key DORA requirements
DORA introduces requirements across five main pillars: ICT risk management, incident reporting, digital operational resilience testing, ICT third-party risk management, and information sharing. Of these, third-party risk management has the most direct implications for contract management teams.
DORA requires that contracts with ICT providers include specific clauses covering service levels, audit rights, exit rights, and incident notification obligations. Organizations must be able to demonstrate that these clauses are present, approved by the right stakeholders, and up to date.
How CLM helps meet DORA requirements
A contract lifecycle management platform addresses DORA compliance in several ways. Pre-approved templates can enforce required clause sets for ICT provider agreements. Approval workflows ensure the right stakeholders sign off before execution. The contract repository provides a searchable audit trail of what was agreed and when.
For step-by-step guidance on building DORA-compliant contract workflows, see Proving Compliance: How to Build DORA-Ready Contract Workflows. For incident-specific obligations, see Incident Readiness and Reporting Under DORA with Contract Insights.
