First Financial Corporation
Want specifics? Take a deep dive on how we help our clients achieve operational excellence.
The financial services industry faces changing customer demands, increased competition and greater regulatory scrutiny. Financial services firms need to make their operations as efficient as possible and ensure the highest levels of security to minimize the risk of a data breach. First Financial Corp. is meeting these objectives by partnering with IronLogix.
With 12 branches across South Carolina, First Financial struggled with outdated computer systems and an inability to share data across its locations. Corporate officers Winnie Brinson and Thomas Trezise spent a couple of hours each morning collecting the data needed to create reports.
“Each branch had a separate setup, and we frequently had connectivity issues,” Trezise said. “IronLogix helped us move everything into the cloud so that we all function as one network. When we come into the office, our data is right there.”
IronLogix has also helped First Financial enhance its security posture, and ensures that the company’s data is backed up and protected. “We originally had a very basic, outdated security setup,” Brinson said. “IronLogix moved us over to a cloud-based service, which is much more secure and works better for us.”
Expert Guidance and Support
Before partnering with IronLogix, First Financial had one person in-house who handled IT issues. Now the company relies on IronLogix for all its IT needs. “This is a much better fit,” Brinson said. “IronLogix handles all of our tech issues — our backups, our data storage, our security, everything.”
As an initial step, IronLogix assessed First Financial’ s existing IT environment and took time to thoroughly understand its business needs and challenges. That’s what distinguishes IronLogix from many other managed services providers — a focus on solving real business problems with technology.
“IronLogix came up with a strategy for the best way to accomplish our objectives, and gave us a couple of options,” Trezise said. “We had to upgrade some equipment, but it’s been worth it. It’s worked really well for us.”
“It’s been a lifesaver,” said Brinson. “Thomas is on the road three days a week and I’m in the home office all the time. Now that we’re cloud-based, he can set up the computer that he takes with him and do whatever he would do if he were here.”
IronLogix performs proactive maintenance to ensure that First Financial’s systems are secure and performing optimally. The IronLogix team also provides responsive support.
“You call, they pick up the phone, you tell them what’s going on, and they respond usually within an hour or so,” Brinson said. “If something is completely in shambles, they’re good about getting somebody right on it. But it’s very rare that things are in shambles.”
End-to-End Support
Third-party vendor management has been a key benefit of working with IronLogix. IronLogix engineers help First Financial troubleshoot and resolve issues with its enterprise software vendor.
“The tech issues that pop up are primarily software-related, but our software vendor doesn’t assist us very much,” Trezise said. “A lot of times, IronLogix will have to come in and find the solutions our software provider can’t find. I think IronLogix trained our software provider on their own equipment because they were having trouble with the conversion. Thanks to IronLogix, we’ve been able to achieve our IT objectives without migrating to new software and training everyone.”
The move to the cloud has brought First Financial a number of benefits beyond streamlined operations. One key advantage is the reliability of the cloud.
“It’s a very small window of time when the cloud goes down,” Brinson said. “The time that we’ve been on it thus far, we haven’t had any interruption in service whatsoever.”
Security Is Key
The primary benefit of working with IronLogix is improved security. First Financial has gained the peace of mind that its systems and data are much more secure than they were.
“Keeping everyone’s data secure is so important now,” Trezise said. “There are several new requirements for our industry that we wouldn’t have been able to meet before. We wouldn’t have had what we needed. We have more than we need now — I feel like we’re ahead of the game and in a much better position than some of our competitors. Nobody is 100 percent safe, but we feel pretty secure.”
Many financial services firms struggle with outdated technology that creates operational bottlenecks. In addition, they often lack the security needed to protect sensitive data and meet increasingly stringent regulatory mandates. First Financial Corp. has been able to overcome these obstacles by partnering with IronLogix.
“IronLogix has helped us become more secure and functional,” Trezise said. “They have been a huge help, without a doubt.”
