Microsoft 365 – Getting More for Your Investment
This blog was authored by my colleague Grant Rolfes – Assurance Manager, Financial Institutions
Community banks and credit unions have continued to grow accustomed to the ever-changing landscape of the financial institution industry. From additional regulations, staffing challenges, and a volatile interest rate environment, many financial institutions are looking for solutions to increase the efficiency of their organizations. One tool that may be overlooked, or perhaps deemed too costly for the perceived value, is automation.
Financial institutions have taken the plunge in moving away from their traditional exchange servers and have taken the plunge into Microsoft 365 landscape. So many organizations have only utilized this environment for hosted email accounts, and the typical office products like Outlook, Word and Excel. Other organizations have leveraged programs like Teams, SharePoint and One Drive to further dive into collaboration within the organization.
But Microsoft offers so much more.
Using Microsoft 365
Many institutions feel lost with where to even begin when considering automation, but if your institution subscribes to Microsoft 365, automation is within reach. Application Programming Interface (API) is a software interface that allows two applications to interact with each other without any user intervention.
Imagine bringing to life multiple data bases in a simple pain of glass. Create a loan approval process by clicking a button. Even simplify the vacation calendar and paid time off requests. The possibilities are endless.
Within in the Microsoft 365 suite, there are tools that can be utilized to bring you valuable information, without the manual data-gathering, downloading, and analyzing that is required of your already strained teams.
For example, Power BI Pro, is a program within the Microsoft 365 suite, which allows for the use of easy-to-read dashboards. The development of tailored dashboards can provide insights to management on the performance and efficiency of your institution, allowing for automation to drive decision making. These dashboards can provide insights allowing for more accurate and timely management, strategy, and growth, while relieving stretched departments to focus on tasks that provide more value to your organization.
Not only can your institution save money on the licensing you may already be paying for, but our CLA team has the experience and expertise to begin guiding you on your automation journey.
How can we help?
CLA can not only assist in guiding your institution down the path that is automation, including the development of institution specific dashboards, but also can save you money in the process. Typically, organizations interested in automation are first tasked with identifying an automation product that can be transferable to their organization. This is easier said than done, as the automation marketplace continues to explode with differing solutions that may or may not fit your bank or credit union. Reach out to CLA to discuss possible cost-savings with Microsoft 365 licensing or if you’re ready to join forces with CLA Digital to deploy automation in your organization.
Dean has more than 25 years of experience providing audit, internal audit, and consulting services to financial services companies. He has provided consulting services in the areas of business lending, product costing and profitability, and asset/liability management. Dean has worked with a number of financial services companies on strategic issues such as board governance and enterprise risk management, as well as the role of internal audit and risk management, regulatory issues, and many accounting related topics.
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