Looking for Topics for the Panel Discussion at the ICBA/NM IT & Operations Conference

How about how does the new regulatory landscape former change the perceptions of an IT manager? For better or worse?

I’d like to hear anything banker’s are doin’ to cut costs, i.e. going green, cutting projects, Virtual servers…..

Virtualization is bright on my radar. A long term cost savings should be easy to find but the initial investment today makes for an interesting conversation with management.

I’m not sold on going green. I had a customer when I was a consultant that made production changes in manufacturing based on theoritical figures and they stopped monitoring the supposed reduction becuase it was so small. I do turn my office lights off when I go home!

Statement outsourcing, employee and customer education, and improved CRM are a few other topics that are buzzing around here.

This is some GOOD stuff…Keep it coming..

Rusty..do a search in BT for Virtual server, there is a LOT of dialog about what's going on.  Some of the posts are from some of the best CIOs in the country.

On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Banktastic <system@banktastic.com> wrote:

The challenge that IT Managers will have during these tough times is to convince management that IT security can not be compromised. When budgets are cut, how can we continue to secure the networks and reduce IT cost? Virtualization is one way. We have four servers in one physical box. We saved money by not having to buy new physical boxes.

I would like to hear more about how banks are integrating regulatory compliance with their standard business processes, throughout the year and across all departments. Generally the motivation is cost savings, but there are other reasons. The changes within the bank may include procedural changes, cultural changes, and/or the use of technologies.

I look upon slow times as the perfect opportunity to implement projects that can improve business processes. The advantages are numerous if you can simply get the funding approved. Prices are lower as companies cut margins to make sales, departments are not as busy so they can work on the implementation easier, and the business process can be fine tuned and ready when business does pick back up (as it always does).

Projects like virtualization, enterprise content management, and CRM are examples of those types of business process modifying projects that can return many times their cost in efficiencies gained.

One area that we might want to discuss is how many banks are using Twitter, Facebook or some other social network site to market, respond, or reach out to their customers. What are the risks to banks using any of these programs?

The whole topic of Web 2.0 seems to be hot right now. I think taking a poll by raise of hand would be interesting. Then calling on th panel or some that raised their hand. The topic of collaboration inside and outside the bank is something that I think is going to continue to be a hot topic.

The topic of Web 2.0 could very well lead directly into a discussion of Compliance 2.0. At the heart of Compliance 2.0 is Collaboration. Compliance 2.0 is all about Risk Management Programs and Continuous Compliance. Web 2.0 technologies inside the bank can really drive, and are actually needed to meet, the objective of continuous compliance.

Risk assessment practices and the changing regulatory landscape in the financial services sector. Specifically how do bank executives align their bank’s risk assessment and control process with their overall strategic objectives to insure effective controls over the quantity of risk across the enterprise.

We find in many smaller banks there is just not enough people to adequately handle compliance. I believe the key is have a DEFINED risk methodology that is a repeatable processes that more than one person can be involved in. Unfortunately most banks are using several different spreadsheets they got from their buddy or their examiner and of course, there is no intelligence built into the process. ooh no, the examiners are coming and we have not done our BSA risk assessment, who has the spreadsheet!!!!

I may have the beginning point to at least addressing the challenges here, especially for the <$10 Billion in asset banks. Wolf and Co. Has developed a patent pending online solution that aligns with the strategic needs of these institutions. Not only can we address the control environment, but we can facilitate an efficient automated management process that insures regulatory safety and minimizes the use of cumbersome spreadsheets. I would like to investigate this potential further. Please contact me at 617 519 5529 or via return email. Thank you,

Joe Romanello

Joseph M. Romanello | WolfPAC National Sales Manager | Wolf & Company, P.C. | 99 High Street, Boston, MA 02110 | Tel: 617-261-8195 | Cell: 617-519-5529 | www.wolfandco.com

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

—Original Message— From: Banktastic <system> Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 10:51 AM To: Romanello, Joseph M. <jromanello> Subject: [Banktastic] New Response to ‘Looking for Topics for the Panel Discussion at the ICBA/NM IT & Operations Conference’

Thank you all for your feedback, we are with in 2 weeks of the conference and I will be firming up the topics in the next week. FYI..I received a copy of the formal agenda yesterday and we will have 5 examiners on a panel discussion ahead of us talking about “Top 10 Examination Hot Buttons for IT & Operation”. This will be VERY informative in light of the dialog we are having here.

For those that won’t be attending, I promise to provide feed back here about the examiner panel discussion and ours. Upon the conclusion of the conference.

Keep the items coming.

Has there been a determination on panel discussion topics as of yet?
We would very much like to be included in the selection of panelists.
Thanks in advance for your consideration



Joseph M. Romanello | WolfPAC National Sales Manager | Wolf & Company, P.C. | 99 High Street, Boston, MA 02110 | Tel: 617-261-8195 | Cell: 617-519-5529 | www.wolfandco.com 

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

The conference is one week from tomorrow and the panel is already decide on. It will be made up of 3 bankers responsible for operations and/or IT in small to medium size banks in New Mexico. All 3 panelist are on this thread and several have commented.

I will be finalizing the list of topics over the next few days, however, I still can take some more ideas  & would especially like to hear from the panelist that have not commented here.

Thanks again for you input…and keep it coming.

Sorry this is a little late but as promised, here is a transcript of the panel discussion. Please feel free to post up more questions.

Thanks again to the panel and your questions.

See attached