$100M Mortgage Banking & Financial Services Company

Business Challenge:

A $100M NASDAQ-traded mortgage banking company needed to build a business process infrastructure & technology foundation that would support its planned growth from an A-paper wholesaler into a multi-channel firm with a major presence in sub-prime and A-paper markets. As interest rates were on the rise, the company also felt pressure to capture cost efficiencies in order to reach profitability targets.

Adding to the complexity of the challenge was the fact that the firm’s key systems and procedures had been developed incrementally in response to the daily needs of a fast-growing business, and as such, were not capable of efficiently handling transaction loads much beyond their then-current threshold levels. Sarbanes-Oxley compliance requirements had also placed further emphasis on formalizing business and information technology (IT) policies, procedures and tools.

Synaptix Solution:

Synaptix Systems defined, designed and implemented a corporate Project Management Office (PMO) that has enabled the mortgage industry client to achieve a world-class capability in the consistent application of common project management standards and methods. By creating this capability, the client has ensured that quality is built into its core business processes and projects. As a result, the client is more consistently exceeding customer expectations with its mortgage products and services.

In working with the client’s executive management to deploy the corporate PMO, Synaptix delivered on a series of milestones:

• Defined the corporate PMO charter/framework including the organization’s vision, mission, strategy, goals, critical success factors, accountability, authority, key roles & responsibilities, major processes and ongoing support plan. Incorporated the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) principles.
• Analyzed, selected and implemented the client’s best-fit enterprise project management software package.
• Built an enterprise project portfolio reporting structure that provides a company-wide view of all 50+ corporate projects, including both IT initiatives and business-only projects. Delivered visibility into project priorities and go/no-go decision criteria.
• Defined and implemented a client-specific project management methodology and systems development lifecycle (SDLC).
• Documented and deployed Sarbanes-Oxley (audit) compliant end-to-end project business processes from project initiation through post-project review. These processes are being successfully used by 600+ client personnel.
• Engineered and built standardized tools, systems and templates that support efficient project delivery and that provide the basis for a best-practices knowledgebase to promote continuous improvement.
• Developed a comprehensive project management education/communication program, led the subsequent workforce training initiative and mentored client team members on specific real-world project challenges.

Results:

Synaptix delivered a successful corporate PMO in less than 90 days. This new organization and its associated systems, tools and procedures have not only enhanced the working relationship between IT and its business unit customers, but have also helped enable the client to:

• Fund $2.5B+ in mortgages over the fourth quarter of 2004, a record high for the company.
• Improve successful project completions by more than 115%.
• Increase quarter over quarter profitability by almost 30%.
• Implement project infrastructure that will scale to handle expected project volume under the 2005 financial forecast and the company’s 10-year plan.