The survey found the top challenges financial firms see in 2017 are:

implementing the right technology infrastructure to drive business
risk management
data analytics and reporting
entering new geographies

Two-thirds of respondents, of whom 85 percent are C-suite-level respondents, expect to increase technology spending in 2017.

Respondents indicated the top reasons financial firms plan to increase their technology spend are to:

realize cost efficiencies (37 percent)
gain a competitive advantage (23 percent)
manage compliance requirements (16 percent)
replace legacy systems (14 percent)

Compliance with regulatory requirements is driving firms to make investments in managed services (41 percent), network infrastructure (37 percent), electronic connectivity (33 percent) and compliance oversight (25 percent).

Nearly 60% of those surveyed intend to deploy hosted solutions to support their technology infrastructure in contrast with 46 percent of survey respondents in 2015. Further, 54 percent of the respondents stated they are currently implementing cloud-based services in contrast to 45 percent of survey respondents in 2015.

"Our survey reaffirms that as technology spending continues to grow, firms need expertise, guidance and innovative end-to-end solutions now more than ever," said Michael Speranza, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, M&A and Marketing, IPC. "At IPC we are working closely with financial markets companies making moves to minimize infrastructure management and empowering them with the cost efficiencies and compliance oversight benefits provided by our cloud-based platforms and services."

The survey was conducted in-person at the 2016 FIA Futures and Options Expo on October 19 and 20, 2016. In total, 239 conference attendees were interviewed.