WyHy Federal Credit Union
| Quick Look | ||
|---|---|---|
Before | After | |
Systems | Self-managed switches, servers, data center (cooling, ups) | Fully managed local switches, routers tied into CU Control monitoring and maintenance |
Hardware | 10 physical servers & switches running the CU's Data Center | Cloud Servers, storage, licensing, patching, maintenance |
Security | Self-managed firewalls, anti-virus, patching | Fully managed firewalls, vulnerability scans, patching, antivirus, etc. |
Communication | Branch MPLS network - T1's, phone system, and internet connectivity | High speed branch MPLS with managed routers, fully redundant 3rd party connections |
Continuity System Design | Antiquated local tape backups, single point of failure telecom structure | Fully replicated servers with rapid failover/failback between data centers |
Organization Chart | VP IT and Help Desk Technician | Remote CIO focused on Member Facing Technology and Help Desk Technician |
“I wish we had moved to this kind of outsourced infrastructure sooner.”
Bill Willingham, President and CEO, WyHy Federal Credit Union
Overview
Before working with OGO, WyHy had a small data center in their Wyoming HQ. They had a low speed MPLS network and used MDT for core processing. In addition, they had two full-time IT people. The team was struggling to keep pace with technology and the related compliance burden. The Credit Union had two branches and about 40 employees located in Wyoming. Moving to OGO offloaded their burden. Using less resources, they gained better network protection and redundancy.
Situation/Challenge
Our IT staff was a bottleneck, spending tremendous time on compliance and infrastructure. Consequently, this group never had the time and ability to focus on our business technology problems. We needed to be more membercentric and proactive instead of closed off and reactive.
Solution
Ongoing Operations offered their services, which we now use of course, but it’s their consultation that truly saved us. Under their direction, we outsourced core and compliance among other things. We used to have three people solely devoted to supporting core. Now, those people can focus on our broader technology needs as a CU, and we have outsourced expertise to force best practices and policies.
Aside from not engaging in this endeavor sooner, my only regret is that I wish we had involved Ongoing Operations more in this process from the beginning instead of trying to do things ourselves. We ended up making more work for ourselves in efforts to save money, but ultimately, it cost us more money down the road.
Results
Using Symitar as core and Ongoing Operations for Hosting, Telecom, Disaster Recovery, and some Security, we developed or reallocated technical resources to focus on member facing technology, specifically within the branch. Without a doubt, our CU has more network stability and capabilities for solving issues quickly. Plus, we have lower turnover in personnel.
A main key to our success is weekly meetings with our five outsourced providers and an appointed group of a couple internal individuals to manage these relationships and maintain service standards across the board.