$1.3B Mortgage Lending & Financial Services Company

Business Challenge:

A $1.3B mortgage lending & loan servicing company, in its efforts to maximize profitability through managed growth, engaged Synaptix Systems to design and implement solutions to a series of inter-related technology and business process challenges:

• Gaps in process, systems & communication between the client’s information technology (IT) organization and its business unit ‘partners’ were causing operational inefficiencies and rework.
• An Executive-level initiative to automate process workflows uncovered a need for significant changes to key systems, procedures and rules in areas such as program/project management, IT financial reporting, production change control, resource management and IT communications.
• Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements mandated the re-definition and/or improvement of core IT policies and infrastructure.

Synaptix Solution:

Synaptix Systems teamed with the client’s management in planning and implementing new processes/methods that leveraged industry best practices and enabling technologies. Using a phased approach, Synaptix designed and deployed a number of efficiency-focused solutions:

• A project initiation, prioritization and execution (PIPE) process that continues to be vital in the effective management of the IT department’s 145-project portfolio and $93M annual budget. As part of this effort, Synaptix also led a cross-functional team in the analysis and implementation of enhancements to the client’s enterprise project management system.
• Sarbanes-Oxley (audit) compliant IT policies and tools in areas such as project management, service level agreements and contract management.
• A system for managing contract development/compliance and vendor procurement, including cradle-to-grave business processes that handle 400+ new legal agreements annually.
• An IT department administration function including design and implementation of key tools, processes, roles and service level commitments.
• Enhanced change management infrastructure for IT production systems that successfully process in excess of $76B in annual transactions.
• An IT communications plan and implementation roadmap for improving IT’s internal and customer relationships. The roadmap detailed the optimal communications approach, channels, policies and tools.

Results:

In addition to driving significant steps forward in the working relationship between IT and its business unit customers, Synaptix Systems delivered process/system solutions that helped enable the client’s IT organization to:

• Provide high-quality service to its internal customers while managing ‘to-plan’ the department’s $93M annual budget.
• Successfully deliver 57 on-budget projects to business unit customers over a six month period.
• Improve compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley audit requirements by more than 60% in less than six months.
• Elevate employee & business unit satisfaction metrics by 30+%.