12/17/2009

Grand Forks District Savings Credit Union Improves Business Process Management, Selects Open Solutions' Digital Document Systems BizFlow

Glastonbury, Conn., Dec. 17, 2009 - Grand Forks District Savings Credit Union today announced it has expanded its relationship with Open Solutions Inc.^®, a leading provider of integrated enabling technologies for financial services providers throughout the United States, Canada and other international markets. The credit union added Digital Document Systems BizFlow^®, an application designed to streamline and automate business processes.

            Headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, Grand Forks has more than 10,000 members and $190 million (USD) in assets. Dan Currie, Manager of Information Technology for Grand Forks, stated the selection of Open Solutions' BizFlow application is a key component of the credit union's overall goal of creating a sophisticated enterprise content management (ECM) system. "We view the implementation of BizFlow as a critical step in our long-term strategy of implementing an electronic content management system. To be successful in ECM, an organization must map out all processes and refine or create new roadmaps. We currently have multiple Open Solutions' document solutions in place including applications for imaging, archiving, electronic receipts and signatures. The BizFlow solution will tie all of these solutions and processes together, and will help automate the most efficient and effective workflow. BizFlow will help us identify and eliminate the low-value tasks, automate business procedures and remove unnecessary tasks from our daily responsibilities."

            BizFlow is a Web-based application designed to coordinate business-critical information including data, paper, digital documents, forms and signatures with pertinent work procedures. The solution automatically identifies and eliminates operational inefficiencies, allows real-time access to documents and information, and improves the accuracy of data, enabling financial institutions to deliver improved service and better products. As a result, Grand Forks will gain greater control over and visibility into real-time operations, as well as improve productivity and member-service levels.

            "We anticipate significant savings following the implementation of BizFlow," said Currie. "By eliminating time-consuming and arduous tasks, our staff will have more time to spend on developing relationships with our membership. Although this is primarily a back-office solution, our members will gain value through expedited processes and quicker transactions. This solution will eliminate the guesswork involved with determining which procedures are effective and which ones are unproductive. We will now be able to monitor and identify which areas need improvement."

"In a highly competitive and ever-changing environment, financial institutions must remain agile to compete," said Louis Hernandez, Jr., Open Solutions' chairman and CEO. "We understand the challenges facing credit unions today and that is why we remain committed to developing solutions designed to produce results and demonstrate measurable results. Eliminating cumbersome processes and operational inefficiencies is no longer a nice-to-have, but rather is mission-critical in today's market. BizFlow is designed to give management visibility and control over operational productivity - producing an almost immediate return on investment. Grand Forks is a long-term Open Solutions' client and we look forward to working with them as they move to the next phase of their enterprise content management strategy."