By now, many of you will have heard that Integris has merged with CalTech, one of the nation’s largest managed IT providers (MSPs), focusing exclusively on serving community banks and credit unions. For MSP industry watchers, this is big news. Two large IT MSPs with a national footprint have joined forces, together making a company with nearly 700 employees in 11 states.
While Integris will continue to be a company that serves all kinds of industries, I believe that together, we will be a formidable competitor in the IT services market for financial institutions. In fact, there really won’t be another company in that space quite like us.
As the former CEO of CalTech and one of the executive members now leading this transition, it’s not hard to see why I’m so excited about this. So, I’d like to take this month’s slot for our thought leadership blog to talk about why this merger is such a big move for Integris and maybe even the MSP industry overall.
A Merger of Equals Poised to Deliver Big Results
There are many reasons why the merger of Integris and CalTech will yield big benefits for financial institutions. The combination of these benefits, I believe, will provide us with a winning sales proposition that few other MSPs can match. Let’s break it down.
Size Matters for Local Service
Where your MSP is located is no small matter for community banks and credit unions. No company managing its customers’ financial assets can afford to run afoul of regulators, have outages, or lose data. If something goes wrong, they need the assurance that their MSP can be mobilized and on-site promptly. With the expanded footprint that Integris can give us, and our experts already serving this segment, we’ll be able to do this like never before.
Now, instead of serving banking clients mainly in Texas and surrounding areas, we will soon be able to offer our deep range of industry expertise in all the states and cities Integris serves. When our transition is complete, we’ll have dedicated engineers and help desk staff in market and available whenever our clients need them.
Is there a problem with your network going down, or is a program going awry? Our merger with Integris will allow us to offer our clients 24/7, US-based help desk services as an add-on service. Our team can have your data backed up and your systems running again in minutes, at any time of the day or night. The same thing goes for users who might need assistance after hours. This access is more than just a “nice to have” benefit for financial institutions. It’s essential and a service your average neighborhood MSP can’t provide.
Our Deep Expertise Helps Our Independent Clients Stay Independent
There are significant differences between the way community banks and credit unions operate. But they have one thing in common: a fierce desire to stay local and independent. To maintain their business integrity, they must do everything a larger institution can do and do it just as well. This, of course, applies to all their internal systems—especially their IT operation.
Community banks and credit unions generally can’t afford an enormous internal IT staff, yet they operate under more regulatory burdens than nearly any other industry. They need an MSP that can act like a true partner, working seamlessly with their staff, regulators, and cyber risk insurers to create a holistic IT operation. This is not a job for amateurs.
At Integris, we do more than the workday tasks of patching, installing, and monitoring. Integris can now offer targeted help for banking/credit union clients, helping them create specific plans for:
- Safely growing internal network and customer portals
- Training their staff in proper data handling and cybersecurity
- Creating written IT procedures and policies for handling financial data
- Developing disaster recovery policy and emergency procedures
- Managing all client endpoints in the office and away
And that’s just the beginning. CalTech is bringing 190 employees into the Integris fold, all of them dedicated to working with financial institutions exclusively. Our depth of knowledge, combined with Integris’ reach, gives us tremendous competitive advantages. Those advantages will help our clients run lean with all the network power and protections you would expect from a larger financial institution.
VCISO and Compliance Services That Stand Out in the Marketplace
Integris has a national network of virtual chief information security officers— some of the IT industry’s most elite cybersecurity experts. Highly certified and experienced cyber security staff are prized and difficult to find. This vCISO network was one of the main reasons we were so excited to join forces with Integris. Now, we can offer our community banking and credit union clients a new level of compliance services.
A good vCISO can offer a financial institution cybersecurity leadership on demand and the kind of proactive security infrastructure planning that can make a difference. Of course, they can recommend all the right cyber security tools to install. But their value goes so much further than that. With our expanded compliance services, we can offer the following:
- Development of written cybersecurity policy
- Regular gap analysis and penetration testing
- Preparing applications/maintaining compliance with cyber risk insurers
- Quarterly/yearly cybersecurity infrastructure planning and budgeting
- Internal compliance reviews
- Testing and documentation for regulatory review
That’s only a partial list. Senior cybersecurity leadership can do wonders for community banks and credit unions, who often feel like they are constantly running to keep up with continually changing security mandates. They can help them catch up and continuously compare their protections against new regulatory asks that may be coming. They’ll also look at their likely growth and upcoming needs, so they’ll have a security framework worth building on.
Community Banks and Credit Unions Need Strong IT Management More Than Ever
Exciting times are ahead! Together, CalTech and Integris have tremendous untapped potential in the community banking/credit union sector. There’s much work still to do. We expect it to be a few months before the full integration, and we’ve rolled these services out in all Integris markets. Stay tuned for more from us.
