Travis Upgrades To Summit's NAS
VACAVILLE, Calif.-The $1-billion Travis Credit Union here has become the first CU on Summit Information Systems to upgrade its core computer system using Network Attached Storage. The credit union set out in late 2000 to upgrade its core system with a goal of focusing on performance improvements and improving redundancy. AVP Craig Beaudry, who was the project manager for the upgrade, said, "Our focus was to eliminate the possibility of any single points of failure and to ensure room for expansion."
Travis reported that month-end processes that used to take several hours to run now complete in communities. Branches are also able to process member requests more quickly.
At the heart of the system are two Hewlett-Packard computers that share a disk drive array in a configuration known as Network Attached Storage. For info: www.summitsite.com.
CU MemberConnect Is Updated
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.-Kern FCU here has selected Harland Financial Solutions' ULTRADATA System as its new core data processor. The $140-million CU serves 17,000 members out of one branch and is focused on utilizing technology to serve members 24 x 7. "The ULTRADATA System's robust host engine, coupled with Harland Financial Solutions' extensive product and service offerings, will provide the competitive advantage we need to deliver enhanced services to our members and help us continue to grow," said CEO DeAnn Straub. KFCU has also purchased Harland Financial Solutions' entire Financial Services Platform suite of products.
For info: www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com.
Liberty FiTECH Moves Quickly
ATLANTA-Members of Associated CU here are no longer suffering delays when attempting to access account information via the Internet.
The $600-million credit union reported its CEO, George Clarke, was getting member complaints about log-in delays, and as a result invited a team from Unisys and its technology provider, Liberty FiTECH, to conduct a system evaluation. The conclusion: its enterprise server was taxed to the limit as the result of an enhanced Internet banking product, a new debit card program, and growth to 145,000 members.
"It was amazing," said Clarke. "Within six weeks of our evaluation, we had a new multi-processor, enterprise server (Unisys CS 7101-1007) functional. Only a few weeks later, we moved into our new offices. By Monday we were ready to serve our members fully. We didn't skip a beat. We're now accessing any documents at any time-in real time."
Separately, the Englewood, Colo-based Liberty Cavion said it has signed a contract with a major telco provider to host a "warm site" so that mission-critical telecommunications are available to the Internet and the private network (frame cloud) on a continuous basis. In the event of a disaster at the main Liberty Cavion data center, operations can be moved to the warm site and quickly rebuilt. Liberty Cavion said it now has a redundant telco connection live from the backup data center to the Internet and the frame relay network. Like the main data center, the warm site has redundant fiber, fail/over connections to the Internet and frame relay cloud, UPS and on-site power generation.
The equipment is monitored 24x7 by Liberty Cavion. For info: 800-607-2435, or Ed Truitt at 720-875-1965.
Pawtucket CU Chooses OSI
PAWTUCKET, R.I.-Pawtucket Credit Union has chosen Open Solutions, Inc. (OSI), Glastonbury, Conn., as its new provider of integrated enterprise data processing, Internet banking and e-commerce solutions. Services will be provided via OSI's service provider (ASP) division. The $500-million credit union has 50,000 members.
Separately, OSI has been named to the 2001 Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America. Rankings are based on five-year percentage revenue growth (1996- 2000). Open Solutions grew 1,884% during this period.
App Speeds Loan Documentation
ST. CLOUD, Minn.-Bankers Systems Inc. (BSI) has introduced Arta Lending Documentation System for credit unions, a 32-bit Windows-based lending documentation solution designed specifically for credit unions. It was created to help CUs document loans faster and more efficiently, the company said. The product automates the documentation for a range of lending transactions, including open-end and closed-end consumer, commercial, residential real estate, agricultural, ARMs and HELCs.
For info: www.bankerssystems.com.
