WILMINGTON, Del.-For brand new credit unions with limited membership, technology is among the biggest challenges. That has made third-party solutions the best available IT option.
"As a newly chartered credit union there isn't capital available to support all of the necessary IT expenses, so it is imperative to find a cost-effective solution," said Blanche Jackson, EVP with Delaware State Police FCU, which is the mentoring CU for the brand new Stepping Stones Community FCU. Jackson serves as secretary on its board of directors.
With one branch, 148 members and a volunteer staff of five, having all the proverbial technology ducks in a row would have proved nearly impossible without outside help, said Jackson.
The outside help in this case comes from Baltimore-based Horsetail Technologies, a firm providing managed services, solution integration and cloud management. When Jackson learned the company had a technology platform designed specifically for start-up credit unions, she made the initial exploratory call.
"Stepping Stones FCU was perfect because they needed scalable technology for a low cost," said Chris Sachse, Horsetail's principal and co-founder. "It needed to stand up to all of the compliance and operational requirements while being able to grow with the credit union. As a credit union that was just getting started the ability to pay as they go and be supported was critical."
Jackson learned of Horsetail's "CU in a Box" offering that was designed specifically for credit unions with assets below $50 million. Since signing with Horsetail, the $1.3 million-asset credit union has built a core platform in a secure environment. "This includes encrypted e-mail and firewall services," noted Jackson.
Sachse explained that the "CU in a Box" model is three tiered. The first focuses on IT infrastructure, security and compliance. Phase two investigates what operational improvements are required. The final stage is geared toward enhancing operations, which-in time-serves to stabilize and then optimize the technology platform. Generally, this incremental process takes approximately one year.
No IT Department Needed
"It is a challenge for smaller credit unions to adopt new IT solutions, because they are usually priced outside of their budget parameters," said Jackson. "As a newly chartered credit union we were looking for an IT solution that would support the credit union without the need for an IT department."
While seemingly an off-the-shelf offering, the initial assessment provides Horsetail with actionable intelligence. As such, participating credit unions are provided with tailored solutions. These include technology as a service delivering hardware and software as a service (SaaS) delivering software and cloud services.
Sachse said pricing is based on what a credit union needs, with the fee billed monthly. Other services in the "box" include quarterly vulnerability scanning and a managed services (e.g., CIO strategic services, mobile device management, network monitoring and reporting and disaster recovery). Compliance management, he said, is offered via AIRESLive.com.
"ROI is determined by the credit union being able to offer services to its members in a secure and compliant environment at an affordable cost," said Jackson. "This has been a huge benefit for a credit union that has only been chartered for about a year and a half."
