First Call has been providing top notch cybersecurity and Information Technology Solutions for Credit Unions across Montana for over 20 years. We have a skilled team of experts to consult, plan and implement the right solution for your business.

We understand the challenges Credit Unions face when it comes to technology, cybersecurity and more and are here to help your business succeed!

Fewer issues 

• Key Performance Indicators:
  • Number of issues
  • Severity/impact of issues
  • Hours of technical resolution time divided by the number of endpoints (PC’s and Servers)

Less risk 

• Key Performance Indicators:
  • Regulatory Standards/Gaps/% of alignment
  • General Cybersecurity Standards/Gaps/% of alignment
  • Advanced Cybersecurity Standards/Gaps/% of alignment

Fiscal Alignment 

• Key Performance Indicators:
  • IT Operational Expense % of Budget
  • IT Capital Expense % of Budget

All IT issues and user requests will be logged into a shared ticketing system. First Call’s dedicated intake and dispatch personnel will take the information, triage, and dispatch the appropriate resource. First Call has personnel dedicated solely to this function to ensure high quality information, scheduling, communication, and technician utilization.

Statistically IT needs to aim to resolve 95% of all IT issues using a remote/team-based approach. 5% require a field technician be dispatched to the client’s physical location.

The Technology Alignment Manager could also address non-urgent issues during their proactive onsite to avoid non-optimal use of Help Desk resources.

A security incident or an assumed security incident requires First Call to utilize its incident response standard operating procedures which include forming a security response team, security response leader and a combination of both technical, incident response management, formal communication (stakeholders) and logging/reporting.

Quality IT support data leads to quality information which leads to quality trend analysis. At First Call we have a saying: “what do we need to do to get the noise to go away?”  IT issues are noisy for our clients, that is keeping them from their jobs. Our goal is to cut our clients’ IT issues in half and then cut them in half again. Example:

Client X: 100 endpoints

• RHEM: 1 hour per endpoint per month
• Total RHEM: 100 Hours of tech support needed.
  • Initial RHEM Goal: .5 hours per endpoint per month
  • Total RHEM: 50 hours of tech support needed.
    • Ultimate goal: .25 hours per endpoint per month
    • Total RHEM: 25 hours of tech support needed.

With high quality records, a team-based support approach, quality assurance and management towards measurable goals the client will experience fewer issues and a predictability both for users and customers.

A variety of tools and services are needed to successfully manage, administer, and secure IT systems. Examples: firewalls, patch management, antivirus, monitoring, automated maintenance, backups and disaster recovery, other cloud services: documentation, ticketing etc. Central Services provides proactive maintenance to keep organizations aligned with standards around these services.

First Call provides a standard stack of tools and services to all clients to keep a high level of standardization, automation, and reporting in place to meet not only technical demands, but also regulatory reporting needs.

In our “Done With You” approach to the IT department all resources must learn and leverage the same tools to gain the efficiencies, outcomes, and left hand/right hand awareness.

Special note on backups: First Call’s data retention policy for cloud backups provides a 6-month recovery window and a variety of ransomware encryption protections stored offsite in a regulatory compliant data center.

The vCIO that intimately understands the organization’s mission, objectives, leadership team and desired organizational and departmental outcomes  

This is a key role that First Call does provide with its agreement and can add extensive value for highly regulated organizations.

• What does a vCIO do?
  • Manage the overall account
    • On-boarding
    • Ongoing services and outcomes
  • Formal IT Planning & Budgeting
    • 4 Formal tech steering meetings a year
    • Helping the organization avoid variables/misalignment with standards
  • Solution Proposals
  • Additional services available for additional fees
    • Regulatory Audits
      • IT main point of contact
      • Communications and reporting
      • Q&A etc.

First Call will assign a vCIO with experience in IT, credit unions/banking, and the ability to work with your leadership team, and the Technology Alignment Manager, to drive organizational value.

The Technology Alignment Manager will review audit the organization annually against security/privacy technical standards. Gaps will be communicated by the vCIO to the leadership team that need executive level support and/or infrastructure investment.

To provide formal proof of regulatory compliance, formal policies and procedures, evidence, 3^rd party vulnerability scans are required, additional fees apply.

While IT has many functions, personnel, and accountabilities someone must be both the leader, manager, and driver of outcomes. The personal accountable can either be inside the organization or the vCIO. Either way the person must embrace the people, processes and tools and take ownership of them.