TRAILBLAZERS

COMPANY Needham Bank

LOCATION Needham Mass

EMPLOYEES 200

TECHNOLOGY STAFF 6

BRIEF HISTORY Founded in 1892 Needham Bank manages $15 billion in assets It has six branches with three more under construction throughout Massachusetts

At a Glance

The IT team at Needham Bank deploys solutions to move into the future of banking without sacrificing the present

ldquoWe need to take into account not just what the customer sees but also the back-end infrastructure that supports what the customer seesrdquo Needham Bank Senior Vice President of IT James Gordon says

CASE STUDY

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2

Banks arenrsquot in business for 120 years without doing a lot

of things right Today ldquodoing things rightrdquo for the Needham

Bank IT team means deploying the right mix of technologies

to foster business growth without growing infrastructure

Doing that requires working closely with the business side

says James Gordon senior vice president of IT

The Needham Mass-based midsized bank offers a

high-tech yet high-touch customer experience which

differentiates the bank from other financial institutions

Gordon says Thatrsquos been the bankrsquos mission since he came

on board in 2007 he says To ensure the bank enjoys solid

growth without abandoning the personalized touch thatrsquos

made it a community fixture for more than a century the

IT staff strives to support fundamental banking practices

while adopting game-changing technologies where and

when they make sense

Through the past seven years Needham Bank which

manages $15 billion in assets currently has grown

30 percent annually more than tripling its number of

employees to 200 while hiring just three additional

IT workers The bank now operates six branches including

a new loan center in its main office and an enhanced

operations center and has three more branches under

construction

How does Needham Bank sustain growth and support

an expanding employee base with only a slight uptick in

IT staffing By taking advantage of mobile technologies

virtualization and the expertise of IT services specialists

Gordon says Senior management is intent on creating

the ldquobank of the futurerdquo mdash but not at the expense of the

present ldquoThe trick in banking is to plan for the future

embrace the present and be cognizant of the pastrdquo

The Right HelpA strategic technology partner plays a pivotal role as well

Gordon says He works closely with CDW for all hardware

and software purchases a relationship that began in 2003

when he was working for another bank

Since joining Needham Bank he says he has continued

to turn to CDW for advice and planning pointers on

implementing numerous technologies from mobile device

management and next-generation switches to server

client and application virtualization as well as for virtual

licensing services

ldquoCDW supports us with licensing even though theyrsquove

already sold us the products which is one of the value-

adds that made me choose themrdquo Gordon says ldquoMy

account manager understands that I need somebody who

will stand by me and help me through the complexities of

virtual software licensing and auditsrdquo

This kind of relationship he adds requires complete

honesty and trust between a customer and its vendor

partner He tells CDW exactly whatrsquos happening on the

change management front so its team can work with his to

ensure licensing compliance ldquoIf I tell them we hired five new

people they tell me if I need to buy more Office or Exchange

licenses for example and the most cost-effective way to

buy themrdquo

Money Management on the MoveNeedham Bankrsquos IT strategy is built on continuously

improving front- and back-office tools optimizing its

infrastructure and streamlining service delivery channels

On the front end the aim is to give customers a choice in

how they do their banking whether itrsquos via mobile apps

CASE STUDY

Percentage of bankers who plan to increase the number of brick-and-mortar branches over the next 12 to 18 months with a focus on reduced footprint enhanced technologies and unique customer experiences SOURCE KPMG ldquo2014 Banking Industry Outlook Surveyrdquo August 2014

41

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38008004239 | CDWcom

The Face of Finance TodayBanks have to remember that their customer base isnrsquot

just ldquoGeneration Mobilerdquo says James Gordon senior vice

president of IT at Needham Bank

The banking business serves a diverse demographic with

people who have varied financial preferences security

concerns and tech skills Therersquos money at stake and

neither customers nor their banks take that lightly

ldquoMobile and online banking tools are disruptive

technologies and the industry must react accordinglyrdquo

Gordon says ldquoThe number and kinds of services that can

be offered over a variety of channels have changed the role

branches playrdquo

For Needham Bank headquartered in Needham Mass

the branch of the future is less a transaction center

where customers deposit or cash checks and more a

service center where they have the opportunity to spend

productive time with customer reps and loan officers The

bank is working hard to ensure customers can access all of

its services across any channel they choose

A Secure Path Forward

ldquoSome bank customers are pioneers downloading

thousands of apps to their mobile devices and exploring

which solves which problemrdquo Gordon says ldquoBut when it

comes to their money the majority of people donrsquot want to

be pioneersrdquo

They want to come into a branch and know somebody will

work with them to show them how they can bank more

efficiently how they can use mobile check deposit or move

money using a mobile device or how to send person-to-

person payments he says

ldquoOver the last couple of years the consumer has essentially

taken charge and thatrsquos reversed the way banks are

accustomed to operatingrdquo says Don Free research vice

president for Gartnerrsquos Banking Industry Advisory Services

online or in person at a branch But therersquos more to it than

simply building the technical foundation and offering

customers tools for self-service financial management

Gordon says Why Because tools deliver on their potential

only when an institution fully emphasizes the human

component of banking he says

Whether customers dive in head first or want assistance

to gain confidence mobile and online banking are definitely

gaining traction Needham Bank offers a full-service

mobile banking app which lets customers do online with

their mobile devices just about everything they can do at a

branch

Recognizing early on the importance of mobility both

to customers and to employees the IT team took stock of

the different mobile devices used in-house They wanted

to standardize on one platform to cut support costs and

improve security which they did when the Apple iPhone 3G

was released in 2008

When mobile device management (MDM) technology

providers began integrating their solutions in 2011 with

the new iOS 4 Needham Bank deployed MobileIronrsquos MDM

product This was a major step forward on the security

front the IT team could now automatically profile employee

devices mdash including the iPad devices they now managed mdash

and the apps running on them

The IT team took yet another step forward in 2013 when

it deployed a cloud-based mobile content management

solution in a private cloud IT manages mobile content

through the bankrsquos NB Exchange portal where employees

access content-sharing and collaboration tools IT staff can

also set up customer portals used primarily by banking

customers who want to securely upload documents and

centrally manage multiple loans and financial assets

ldquoWersquore a big believer in remote access but we wanted

technology that gave us strong security controls while

still allowing employees to be highly productiverdquo Gordon

says ldquoThey need to be able to meet with customers work

on deals sell new products and process loan applications

whether theyrsquore in the office or anywhere elserdquo

Virtual Bank of the Future Gordon and his team continuously review front- and

back-end technologies that reduce the cost of IT services

delivery create a more agile energy-efficient data center

infrastructure and protect data

ldquoWhen financial services professionals talk about the bank

of the future they talk about the front of the house but tend

to overlook the back of the houserdquo he says ldquoWe need to take

into account not just what the customer sees but also the

back-end infrastructure that supports what the customer

sees It goes far beyond installing a few plasma screens on

the wall and running slideshows highlighting our servicesrdquo

To simplify the infrastructure that supports bank activities

and position IT to respond to continuing growth Gordon

and his team started virtualizing Needham Bankrsquos servers

in early 2009 The bank now maintains three physical

servers the rest are VMware virtual machines (VMs) The

48008004239 | CDWcom

This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certified144899 mdash 140923 copy2014 CDW LLC

4

bank upgrades its hardware every 18 months to take

advantage of CPU performance improvements moving

older hardware to the bankrsquos disaster recovery site

As part of its DR strategy Needham Bank replicates

critical servers over high-speed fiber to its offsite data

center as well as backing them up to Linear Tape-Open

Version 6 drives for offsite storage For fast restoration

in the event of a disruption such as a VM crash the bank

relies on Veeam local backup of its HP storage server

Veeam maintains up to 90 snapshots of the production

environment so that the IT team can recover locally based

on its recovery point objectives

Banking on VDINeedham Bank also migrated from traditional desktops

to virtualized VMware View desktops using HP T-410 and

LG Cloud V-Series thin clients That allows the IT team to

create a standard gold image of a Windows 7 desktop and

core applications as well as centrally manage all clients

For users who need special applications Gordonrsquos

staff uses VMware ThinApp to virtualize applications and

deliver them to appropriate desktops without creating

multiple gold images for different users and departments

ldquoVirtualization eliminates what I call lsquodesktop warfarersquo

where you need a team of people dedicated to battling

desktops that have multiple hardware versions operating

systems and applications day after dayrdquo he says

With virtual desktops IT also eliminates the time-

consuming task of installing and upgrading applications

on multiple platforms ldquoIf we need to upgrade Firefox for

instance we upgrade it once in our virtual environment

and cascade it through the entire bank with a couple of

mouse clicksrdquo

The bank is piloting a small virtual storage area network

using VMware and flash cache cards from Fusion-io Each

branch uses only a small amount of flash cache to ensure

fast response times for teller desktops As part of its

branch expansion and infrastructure overhaul the IT team

has upgraded to robust HP PoE switches at the bankrsquos

main and branch locations Each switch can support

multiple virtual LANs eliminating the need for several

older switches and significantly cutting costs Gordon

says That helps Needham Bank to better support current

applications and future-proof its network

The VDI initiative has already eliminated the need to run

multiple servers in branch offices

CASE STUDY

ldquoThe HP T-410s require only a PoE connection so we

just plug them into the new switch and they draw their

power from thererdquo Gordon says ldquoWe reduce wiring

power consumption and the overall branch footprintrdquo

The building architects hersquos worked with on expansions

are shocked when he tells them he doesnrsquot need a 10-by-

10-foot server room for equipment at each new location mdash

just a cabinet or a drawer where they can install a switch a

router and a few networking components

License to GrowVM licensing models mdash whether per-server per-VM

or per-core mdash can make compliance a challenge Thatrsquos

why Gordon says he partners with CDW for VMware

licensing services

ldquoWhen Irsquom notified about a licensing audit my CDW

account manager is on the phone with me every step of

the wayrdquo Gordon says ldquoIf IT leaders in a growth business

arenrsquot having at least a monthly call with their rep about

licensing theyrsquore not doing things rightrdquo

The team is always thinking ahead Gordon says

considering next moves that will best serve the business

ldquoWhateverrsquos going on we never stay stagnant We see

ourselves as the new standard in community bankingrdquo

Is mobility a driver in your business Find more tactical tips for mobil-

ity in our Total Mobility Management e-book Download the CDW Tech

Insights app by visiting CDWcomTechInsightsBI

ldquoWhen Irsquom notified about a licensing audit my CDW account manager is on the phone with me every step of the wayrdquo

Pho

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