From manual processes to customized automation
Open Technology Solutions (OTS) is a credit union service organization (CUSO) that provides technology support for its three owner credit unions:
• Bethpage Federal Credit Union ($6.9B in assets, 311,000 members),
• Bellco Credit Union ($4.3B in assets, 296,000 members), and State Employees
• Credit Union of Maryland ($3.3B in assets, 245,000 members).
The CUSO operates three data centers and hosts a wide range of key applications, including core processing, online and mobile, as well as the integration layer for any products one of the owners might choose to run on its own. While each owner is free to deploy whatever technology it sees fit, the three credit unions share about 80% of their technology. This provides a tremendous economy of scale.
From 24/7 staffing to lights out
When the CUSO first formed, only one automation system was available for its core processing platform. This proved problematic.
“Our previous automation tool had shortcomings in both terms of flexibility and supportability,” said OTS Director of Development Dustin Montoya. “Basically, we only used it to automate batch jobs.”
This meant that the CUSO was forced to maintain around-the-clock staffing.
“Our CEO really wanted us to move to a true lights-out state,” added Montoya. “We didn’t want hands on keyboards and eyes on monitors all night long.”
OpCon proved to be the ideal solution. When the previous automation tool was in use, the CUSO maintained an automation staff of three and an operations staff of 12. Using OpCon, staffing for both groups has been reduced to only four automation experts. The CUSO was able to absorb the other 11 employees into new, more strategic roles.
Lower overhead, too
In addition to reducing the number of employees devoted to automation, the CUSO was also able to reduce its number of servers.
“In our old environment, we were forced to run 21 separate instances of our previous automation tool,” said Montoya. “Today we run two instances of OpCon, one for testing and one for production. That’s it.”
Putting end users in control
The CUSO’s IT group supports the owner credit unions directly and also supports shared resources, such as a unified contact center. OpCon’s Self Service capabilities have significantly enhanced service levels to all of these groups.
“Instead of a lengthy string of emails going back and forth just to initiate one job, users can simply log on and click a button,” said Manager of Application Development and Automation Support Chris Patterson. “We can be more responsive, and we can also focus more on areas where we’re really needed.”
OpCon’s robust feature set is further enhanced by SMA’s commitment to unparalleled customer service. “We couldn’t ask for better support,” concluded Patterson.
