RICHMOND, Ind. - The few credit unions that told Credit Union Journal that they plan to install the Microsoft Vista operating system aren’t doing so for any outstanding security benefits, interface enhancements, or processing upgrades. Apparently, Vista is more of a necessary evil.
Credit union IT managers shared a range of reactions to Vista and XP Service Pack 3 (SP#3) when Credit Union Journal asked them which they would choose:
Cindy Gribben, CEO at $47-million Natco CU
“It doesn’t make sense to me not to progress with the latest operating system, even if I don’t like it.” said. Natco will introduce Vista as it buys new computers, up to 30 in the next 18 months, she said.
Bill Burrows, CIO, EECU, Ft. Worth, Texas
“We recently purchased 300 new PCs. They came with Vista, but we exercised the downgrade rights to XP.” Burrows plans to install SP3 until end of year when he will reevaluate Vista
Brad Williams, VP-IT, South Carolina FCU,
North Charleston, S.C.
“We did test Vista and didn’t see any benefit. In fact we spent a lot of time trying to make it more XP-like.” The CU will go live with SP3 in September.
Troy Warman, VP-Information Systems,
1st United Services Credit Union, Pleasanton, Calif.
“Vista is the next progressive step we see out there, but we’re also tied to what our vendors can support. Vista’s screen-scroll feature would make it so much easier for our staff to be able to flip through the sometimes-many-screens they have opened.” Warman plans to install SP3 and then Vista when core provider supports them.
Brad Wood, Information Systems Manager, iQ CU, Vancouver, Wash.
“XP is a stable, reliable, and proven desktop operating system and iQ Credit Union does not see the point of making such a significant change (to Vista) at the desktop level. We have just installed SP3 on one system so far. Installation went fine, and it is too soon to tell if there are any functionality or integration issues.” Wood will install SP3 on most systems by end of year.
Joe Thomas, President, Fairfax County FCU, Fairfax, Va.
“I think it’s interesting that we are discussing the merits and drawbacks of one Microsoft product versus another instead of the need for a real alternative in the business environment. (However) I really don’t see a viable alternative that would work across all the different areas of the credit union.” Thomas started testing SP3 last month.
Fred Cook, CIO, North Shore CU, Vancouver, B.C.
“SP3 is a security clean up; we need not the monster that is Vista... at least for the moment.” Cook will roll out SP3 to all devices in two months.
Jackie Buchanan, CIO, T&C FCU, Bloomfield Hill, Mich.
“We are looking into Citrix, which might eliminate the need for a Microsoft OS, at least for the large majority of our team.” Buchanan will install SP3, but only on new installations and rebuilds.
Nannette Cutliff, VP-CIO, Pacific Service CU, Walnut Creek, Calif.
“Our initial plan is to rollout Vista and Office 2007 mid-2009 as part of our standard desktop inventory upgrade. The largest hurdle we anticipate is training the staff in the new ‘look and feel.’ If we find this change to be too burdensome, we may consider putting it off another six to nine months.” Cutliff plans to deploy SP3 in August.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
