Sharing Data, Seamlessly and Efficiently

The ability to manage and share data across departments and consolidate reporting systems are keys to running an efficient bank operation. American Bank Center (Dickinson, N.D., $900 million in total assets) is doing just that after implementing Jack Henry subsidiary ProfitStars' Optimizer solution.

Optimizer is a portal that accommodates multiple ProfitStars data performance systems and platforms. The solution enables CEOs, CFOs, and other financial personnel at a bank to monitor, analyze, plan and execute profit-enhancing plans through one portal, one dashboard and a single sign-on.

[For more on data management and the brave new world of big data, download the February 2012 digital issue of Bank Systems & Technology]

Tom Wyckoff, VP and cashier for American Bank Center, says the solution has helped the bank realize efficiencies by allowing senior management to be able to easily access various data on a single dashboard. Those using the dashboard, for example, "can see if there are new loans on the books and quickly drill down and find the information they need without having to contact another department to find it," he says. "They can also see information such as financial data, net income, profitability. Normally they had to get that via reports, which were time consuming to compile."

Further notes Wyckoff, Optimizer runs on an automated process and doesn't require the daily maintenance of the IT department, creating more efficiencies.

The bank rolled out the solution in November, and though it's currently only used by senior management, it may be extended to the bank's officers as well in 2012, adds Wyckoff.

Wyckoff said those using the Optimizer solution log on via an internal web address. He says it was a fairly simple process to get the 20 senior managers who use Optimizer started. "We had an hour-and-a-half training session, a handout, and then pretty much turned it over to them," he says. "They were all impressed with the information available at their fingertips."

Wyckoff notes that American Bank center chose Optimzer because of its integration with other Jack Henry data management products, which the bank uses. Optimizer is powered by Microsoft SharePoint technology to accommodate data sources from different ProfitStars systems and platforms. The bank doesn't currently use Optimizer for marketing and customer analytics, but it can be integrated with databases for those purposes, he notes.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio