SANDY, Utah - Never one to fool around with banks or Microsoft, CMC here is marking a 30-year love affair with credit unions and IBM, according to Sean Holcomb, SVP at CMC.
Started by his father in 1978, the Computer Marketing Corp. (CMC) survived the acquisitions wave of the past decade that claimed the likes of Summit, re:Member Data and SOSystem, emerging as the largest independent provider of operations software to credit unions, Holcomb told Credit Union Journal.
Through it all, CMC has remained faithful to credit unions and avoided banks, said Holcomb. “CMC has no interest in serving an industry whose core position is virulently opposed to the credit union movement.”
CMC also has remained true to IBM’s evolving, mid-range business application platform, currently known as the iSeries,
“Product stability is among the first benefits a core processor can provide its credit union clients, and no vendor has done a better job than CMC,” Holcomb suggested.
“While most everyone considers the iSeries to be a legacy, green screen platform, they couldn’t be more mistaken,” he said. “The platform has proven its winning ways as the platform of choice in the two best-known, money-centric industries–banks and casinos.”
In 1978, CMC built the original FLEX system on IBM’s System 34, and followed IBM’s advances to System 36, the Application System/400, and the iSeries. CMC also has been around long enough to see these servers work faster and handle more data thanks to 64-bit processing in 1995, up from 8-bits in 1978.
“IBM’s 64-bit processor was considered a major achievement in the world of computing, but the announcement went largely unnoticed within the credit union community,” which is enamored of the distributed, Windows NT infrastructure, said Holcomb. “The iSeries has been nothing less than brilliant in the arena IBM knows best–business application servers.”
Indeed, CMC is in good company, as both Fiserv and Jack Henry & Associates use the iSeries to drive their 16,000 bank clients.
Each server can support more than 1000 applications, which has allowed CMC to pile on the software over the years according to client demand, Holcomb continued. And pile on the software, it has: FLEX integrates teller, transfers and disbursements, shares, back office, managerial, general ledger, certificates, payroll and lending functions, as well as advanced applications, such as automated loan decisioning, audio response, document management and in-house debit and credit card processing.
In keeping with the spirit of doing more with fewer machines, CMC also deploys FLEXTeller Internet banking for more than 60 credit unions under just one virtual hood, instead of running 60 servers.
If that approach sounds familiar, it’s because CUs en masse are turning to virtualization to consolidate software, applications, and servers, as reported by CU Journal since 2006, and to get away from the sprawl created by dedicating one server to each application or software, which is part of the Microsoft NT distributed computing model, according to Holcomb.
“Central is back in vogue,” Holcomb said. “But existing FLEX customers need not concern themselves with such technologies. It’s built into the existing FLEX infrastructure. CMC developed its FLEXTeller solution as the industry’s very first product for credit unions that employed virtual server technology.”
FLEX was first engineered using the RPG programming language but in 2000 started moving toward the JAVA application program interface. CMC chose Sun Microsystems JAVA over Microsoft .NET “to achieve platform independence and uniqueness in an industry dominated by Microsoft technologies,” said Holcomb.
To the user, JAVA’s open source code means CMC can charge by the installation, not by seat license, said Holcomb. And users navigate through about 65 % fewer screens than with previous FLEX systems.
The company outgrew its 14,000 square-foot headquarters, where it started with four employees, and moved with 120 employees to a 40,000 square-foot facility in 2005. CMC started with four CUs and now serves about 260.
1978
* CMC incorporates
* Trans West CU of Salt Lake City is first client
1984
* CMC creates
* FLEX brand
* 8 CUs on FLEX
1988
* FLEX migrates from IBM’s 8-bit S/36 platform to IBM’s 48-bit AS/400
* 32 CUs on FLEX
1993
* CMC introduces CU-specific Audio Response system to clients
* USAA of San Antonio, Texas, first to launch Audio Response
1994
* CMC develops industry’s first pass-through credit card system; precludes need for separate card management system and data file exchange
* Members 1st CU of Redding, Calif., first to install pass-through system
1994
* CMC installs 100th CU
* MembersFirst of Decatur, Ga., is 100th client
1995
* IBM deploys its first 64-bit RISC processor
* 138 CUs on FLEX
1997
* Distributed and open systems architecture gains steam in CU industry; CMC sticks with single-server model
* 158 CUs run FLEX, all still off one server
2000
* CMC offers FLEXTeller Internet banking; first CU system to use Virtual Private Network connections and virtual server model
* United CU of Mexico, Mo., is first to install FLEXTeller
2002
* FLEX re-engineered using JAVA
* 223 CUs on FLEX
2004
* IBM announces Power5 with 128-bit processor tech; CMC waiting for IBM to ship first units
* 239 CUs on FLEX
2005
* JAVA-based FLEX released
* Meridia Community CU of Hamburg, NY, first to launch
2006
* CMC offers FLEXVault (automated e-vaulting data backup storage) coupled with Unattended End-of-Period Processing, creating hybrid solution set of in-House and online processing models
* Alliance FCU of Lubbock, Texas, first to use FLEXVault and Unattended End-of-Period Processing
2007
* CMC integrates its document management system into core
* 248 CUs on FLEX
2008
* CMC celebrates 30 years
* 254 CUs on FLEX, with 7 signed to convert
