Bank Balances Growth, IT Needs using Managed Services

How does a growing bank balance the demands of an increasingly complex business with the need for IT solutions that scale to meet them?  California-based Five Star Bank was struggling with a two-person IT team and consumer-grade equipment to manage its IT infrastructure. The bank's overall IT infrastructure as not keeping up with what the company needed. Here's how one MSP came in and helped the company create an IT plan to better suit its needs and save $120,000 at the same time.

That MSP is Computer Services, Inc. (CSI) recently shared exclusively with MSPmentor a new case study that explains how Five Star Bank improved efficiency, lowered risk, and saved money by outsourcing its IT operations.

According to Five Star Bank CFO Krista Snelling, the bank made the decision to hire outside experts because of the growing complexity of their IT demands. “We decided to outsource our IT because the IT demands at banks are only getting more complex,” Snelling said. “We wanted to ensure we had experts designing and maintaining our infrastructure.”

To assess the bank's needs, CSI reviewed diagrams and asset lists, analyzing the bank's strengths and weaknesses, CSI said. “During the onboarding process, thorough assessments were conducted to establish technology strengths and weaknesses,” said CSI Business Development Director Zaid Akhter. The results were then used to build a case for making any necessary changes, “enabling the bank to build a platform on which to expand as required.” What were results of CSI's evaluation? The bank needed systems that responded more quickly, protocols to assist their auditors, and 24/7 access to support representatives who can resolve issues quickly.

In response, CSI provided the bank with access to the company's 24/7 help desk services. To take it a step further, CSI also implemented its own platforms to ensure the bank's operations functioned optimally and securely. “CSI primarily uses our cloud security, performance and service desk management platforms to proactively manage their environment,” Akhter said.

In the end the solution that is in place calls for Five Star Bank to have its IT assets onsite, but those assets are managed by CSI remotely — a classic managed services set up.

The partnership allows bankers to be bankers, instead of focusing on technology. “It has made the company more efficient because it allows us to focus on being bankers rather than techies,” Snelling insisted. Snelling also went on to state that the hiring of a managed services provider (MSP) increased her confidence and gave her a better night sleep. The bank estimated an annual savings of more than $120,000.