Those of you that have been around the financial services industry for as long as I have know that there have been many times that we have to help “educate” our management to the needs in IT. More often than not, it was the Chief Financial Officer that was the one trying to justify the return on investment(ROI) of your suggestions. These discussion have been an ongoing debate for the past 30 years.

The Texas Bankers Association is holding their 3rd Annual CFO conference in Galveston, Texas at the San Luis Resort & Convention Center on June 7 – 9. I have the honor of moderating a session called “Making the Most of Your Technology Investment”. I have already invited some CFOs from banks that we work with to sit on the panel. This open dialogue should be very good for the head financial person in your bank. We plan to talk about vendor selection, IT audits, Budgeting, future trends and more. This particular session will be held on Wednesday, June 7th at 2:30 p.m. If you are interested in being part of this presentation, please let me know!

Henry Garland, henry(at)thegarlandgroup.net
Here is the link to the TBA CFO Conference….Pass it on. YOU MIGHT GET A GREAT ROI!!!

Due to the demand of our IT audit, virtual CIO, and other consultant services we are needing more people!

We are looking for a couple of real motivated, fun, passionate people that can join our small firm here and help continue our busines to thrive. We not only look for qualified people, but we look for people that can have fun, too. Details on the positions are noted below and please send all inquiries to sales (at) thegarlandgroup.net

Jobs @ The Garland Group

Principal IT Auditor – looking for someone that come in and perform full FFIEC audits and could possible be the principal on the audits. Banking experience is a must and a CISA would be nice.
IT Auditor – looking for someone with a good networking background in possible multiple platforms but especially Windows networking. Having experience in Cisco, AS/400, or Terminal Services/Citrix platforms would be a plus.

Both positions include traveling up to 30% of the time and will be hired, at least intially, on a contract-for-hire plan.

It’s time to start looking at Sarbanes-Oxley in a more positive light.
By Maria Bruno-Britz
<!- remove http:// substring (if present) from the url ->Bank Systems & Technology

Now that the critical period to achieve Sarbanes-Oxley compliance is just an unpleasant memory, it is time for banks to rethink their strategic approaches to SOX requirements. Since the regulation was introduced, experts have espoused that the massive efforts to bring companies’ IT systems into alignment with the regulation should be seen as an opportunity. According to Paul Hamerman, VP of enterprise applications for Forrester Research (Cambridge, Mass.), for those companies savvy enough to recognize the act’s hidden benefits, now is the time to take their SOX strategies to the next level.”The first time around with SOX, there was an imposed deadline and everyone scrambled to meet minimum compliance requirements,” Hamerman explains. “Now, it’s time to look at the underlying systems and processes, and see how they can gain efficiencies from them.”

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FROM BANK SYSTEMS & TECHNOLOGY ONLINE…

Heading technology for a bank that is bent on branch expansion is no laughing matter—even if you are a distant relative of a certain comedian. Yet, Commerce Bank ($36 billion in assets) CIO Kent Seinfeld says he lives for the challenge.

“There is never, never a dull moment,” Seinfeld says of his job. “The growth is on many different axes – I have to try to anticipate all the barriers so they don’t stop us. Having to think about this all the time is what people like me live for.”

The former mainframe techie has held CIO roles at other banks, and Seinfeld says the job is more or less the same from institution to institution. “The only difference is the growth rate [at Commerce],” he explains. “We don’t really grow through acquisitions—it’s mostly organic.”

Kent Seinfeld, SVP & CIO, Commerce Bank (Cherry Hill, N.J.; $36 billion in assets)

Seinfeld oversees a staff of about 400 people in what he describes as a fairly classically organized IT department. The bank does not do much systems development in-house, preferring to buy solutions from vendors. However, the infrastructure and its servicing are kept inside the bank.   

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