NASHVILLE, Tenn.–It may be the nation’s second largest credit union at $59 billion in assets, but State Employees’ Credit Union has found the best way to tackle IT projects is “one bite at a time.”
Speaking to the inaugural EDGE Conference sponsored by Trellance, Filene and Credit Union Data Exchange (CUDX), Rammash Rajagopal, head of application development, said the credit union has found that approach to be most effective given the enormous demands upon IT staff’s time, which is then compounded by all the change taking place in technology.
Rajagopal said taking that bite involves all aspects of operations, including people and processes, in addition to the technology. On the people side, he noted a key issue is an aging workforce that has deep tribal knowledge, meaning they may also be resistant to changes. On the process side, the questions involve examining whether a process is manual or automated, redundant or complicated, or non-standard. And with technology, he said there is the issue of “tech debt,” which involves unsupported hardware and software, the inability to scale for growth and vulnerabilities.
‘People First’
Rajagopal said the 2.8-million-member SECU has taken a “people-first” approach, and that includes a focus on upskilling and reskillikng with education, exposure and internal movement. “It takes time,” he reminded. “Experience takes time.”
For SECU it has also involved a change in mindset for many, moving from being order-takers to being “enablers, accelerators and thought-leaders.”
Tech to Transform
According to Rajagopal, the steps SECU has taken to transform itself technologically include:
- It brought an enterprise integration to move away from spaghetti integration and architecture in order to drive simplified, scalable, manageable, secure and reusable APIs
- It brought a focus on enterprise architecture across IT: infrastructure, security and app development
- It brought newer enterprise tools and technology to support the transformation
Data as a Fuel
Rajagopal said SECU has looked to its data as “fuel,” and to that end it:
- Captures data and metrics wherever possible
- Uses KPIs and KSFs (key success factors) to measure and improve
- Has moved the organization toward data-driven decision-making
Programs, Project and Quick Wins
Rajagopal advised other credit unions to take SECU’s bite-size approach in order to create some quick wins. He advised credit unions to:
- Identify areas to enable digital/transformation and turn into initiatives, programs and projects
- Prioritize key programs and projects to enable faster time to market
- Deliver incremental improvements to bring improved experiences while balancing business as usual
Initiative and Impact
Rajagopal talked about one initiative he said has really paid dividends, and that is “untangling the spaghetti.” In other words, separating the service channels from the core systems. SECU is getting ready to move to a new core.
“For every system we are talking a similar approach. It has helped us to create a foundation,” he said. “Not everything has to go through middleware.
The Takeaways
Rajagopal’s advice for credit union IT leaders:
- Look holistically. “Look at a total change on all—people, process, technology, data, culture and experience.”
- Built trust. “While embarking on massive transformation, look at incremental wins to build trust.”
- Balance innovation with operational excellence. “While transformation is inevitable, business as usual is critical too to focus on continuous improvement leading to operational excellence.”
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