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Business Situation:
Citizens Savings Bank (CSB), with
locations in Gilman and LeGrande, Iowa, had made a strategic
decision to expand into the Marshalltown, Iowa, market. The
opening of this new office offered the potential to almost
double the size of their business. CSB knew they would need a
technology solution provider to help them navigate the maze of
banking software and hardware necessary to operate such an
enterprise. This was also necessitated by the high cost and
difficulty of retaining personnel who possessed sufficient
expertise. This situation called for an outside firm that could
provide multiple people during the operation and oversee the
expansion and implementation of all technology. This is where
WSI stepped in.
Major Goals:
- Allow the client to operate their
business without the need for a full-time, dedicated IT person
on staff.
- Assist the client in sorting through
the myriad of vendors and vendor claims with respect to
technology solutions.
- Provide a cost effective one-stop
source for the majority of the bank's technology needs
including PC's, Windows servers, printers, web site hosting
and design, support and network security.
Solution:
The first step was to complete a basic
assessment of all facets of their technology. WSI evaluated
their IBM RS/6000 server, Wide Area Network (WAN), bank
transaction software - Vision by PCS, document imaging system,
loan management - Bankers Systems & Gulf Pak, deposit and
account software - Gulf Pak, as well as their general office
software. WSI then assessed their PC hardware and Local Area
Network (LAN) infrastructure. Once this assessment was complete,
WSI provided the bank with recommendations for each of these
areas.
The bank elected to have Mark Steffen,
WSI’s Senior IT Consultant, assume the responsibility for
communicating with all of the vendors to determine what upgrades
were appropriate and necessary. CSB also decided to have Mark
deal with all licensing issues and select additional vendors as
needed.
WSI provided a new Intel Based Workgroup
Server to run Microsoft Small Business Server 2000 and the Gulf
Pak software. The Small Business Server provides needed
groupware functionality to help manage the bank’s growing and
more widespread personnel. Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 is
used to handle complex, multi-site, multi-person meeting
scheduling as well as internal email and task management. WSI
also provided 15 new Intel Based PC Workstations that utilize
Microsoft Windows 2000 and will serve as their users interface
to the bank’s entire technology infrastructure. All workstations
utilize Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, PC based printing
systems from Hewlett Packard, and network switches by 3COM were
also provided by WSI.
After assessing the current WAN
infrastructure already in place the determination was reached
that it would not handle the bank’s expansion plans. Two
alternatives were researched, upgrading from a 56k wire based
WAN to a T1 or replacing the 56k system with a wireless network.
Based on a careful assessment of recurring cost versus initial
costs and discussions with other banks and co-ops that were
using wireless, the bank elected to proceed with a wireless WAN
solution.
WSI coordinated and facilitated
communication between the bank and the company selected to
provide the wireless solution. This greatly simplified the
project for both the bank and the wireless company. With this
relationship in place, the bank knew that its best interests
would be represented and communicated. The wireless vendor had
the advantage of working with a company that had experience with
technology and networks.
Winning Solutions, Inc. worked with a
variety of vendors as well as providing solutions, allowing the
bank team to focus on the many other pressing matters related to
their expansion. Solutions from many vendors were brought
together to work on one LAN/WAN infrastructure.
Benefits:
When first approached by WSI about
planning for this bank expansion, one of the banking software
vendors stated that it would be necessary to purchase a new
RS/6000 at a cost in excess of $55,000. They stated that this
was necessary because the current model in use could not be
upgraded. WSI took it upon itself to research this statement
more closely. It was determined that the unit could indeed be
upgraded at a cost less than $5,000. The previously described
wireless solution saves the bank several hundred dollars each
month over the costs for having a T1.
Now that the main thrust of this expansion
has been completed, CSB is able to decrease its technology
spending, not have to lay anyone off and know that WSI will be
there when needed.
Technical Information:
Microsoft Software Used: Winning
Solutions, Inc. is a Microsoft Certified company and thus used
the following Microsoft software in this project. Microsoft
Office Small Business Edition including Access, Word, Excel, and
Outlook, Microsoft Windows 2000 SBS, Microsoft Exchange Server
2000 and Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional.
Other Products Used: Vision by PCS, Gulf
Pak, and Retrospect by Dantz.
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