Open-Xchange, Inc. is pleased to present a customer profile of First Network Mortgage, a company based in Yonkers, NY (New York City area). First Network Mortgage has been serving the financial community for twenty years. Peter Dominquez, CEO of First Network Mortgage, was kind enough to spend some time with Open-Xchange. This profile is the result of that conversation.

Please describe your organization
First Network Mortgage, a Yonkers, NY, company, does a number of things. For 20 years, its provided various types of network-based services to the mortgage banking industry and to other financial institutions. First Network Mortgage was an early user of both the Internet and of open source software, such as Linux.

One of First Network Mortgage's services is transferring compound documents among members of the mortgage banking community. These compound documents are made up of many individual elements that support an individual financial transaction. This means dealing with legal documentation that must be in the standard format, accurate, complete, and protected with a high level of both security and privacy. These documents become part of the public record.

At first, First Network Mortgage integrated, installed and supported its own Linux-based collaborative application solutions. In a move to improve operational efficiency, reliability and availability while also reducing overall costs, First Network Mortgage turned to Systems Solutions for pre-integrated, installed and supported solutions.

First Network Mortgage is a former user of SUSE Linux Open-Xchange (SLOX). Peter Dominquez, CEO of First Network Mortgage, points out that Version 5 of the Open-Xchange Server is significantly better than its early predecessor because it is more modular, more scalable and has many improved features. System Solutions helped First Network Mortgage to make a smooth transition from SLOX to today's Open-Xchange Server 5.

What were your expectations for a collaborative application Environment?
Mr. Dominquez pointed out that his biggest hope was that Open-Xchange would organize his environment Otherwise, he commented, he'd have trouble finding his desk under mounds of papers. First Network Mortgage needs not only to store documents reliability; they need to share these documents with others in a secure way using Samba.

Another major goal First Network Mortgage had was to deal more effectively with the New Workplace. This means offering real-time collaboration to his clients regardless of what device they're using, what network they're using or where they're physically located. Furthermore, First Network Mortgage must be able to provide this service 24x7.

It was crucial that any collaborative application environment support XML formatted documents. Increasingly the financial industry needs XML support. XML is now a standard for document and information interchange in the home mortgage industry in the United States.

Why did you choose System Solutions' Open-Xchange solution?
First Network Mortgage is supporting a production environment. The organization is looking for a highly available, reliable platform for his organization's work. Since it's a resource for business, it needs a high level of service and support. Mr. Dominquez did a lot of research on the topic. He wanted a solution that worked in the Linux and Open Source environment. He was looking for a stable partner, one that has had a track record of success in this area.

Mr. Dominquez appreciates and values the advice, suggestions and knowledge offered by Systems Solutions. He also appreciates the fact that Systems Solutions makes the effort to assure that First Network Mortgage is happy.

What benefits have you seen from deploying this solution?
Piece of mind is an important benefit. A higher level of productivity is a side benefit, but a very important side benefit. Open-Xchange Server combined with System Solution's care and advice has made it easier for First Network Mortgage to function within the highly regulated financial industry.

Mr. Dominquez pointed out that it is hard to be very specific about the benefits. "How do you measure the benefit of an overall increase in productivity?" he said. Open-Xchange allows Peter to support his business operations using fewer computers, lower software costs, and this has reduced his overall costs.

In the financial industry increasingly has to deal with a file, or compound document, that is made up of many different documents without also having to keep multiple copies of documents in the system. Being able to link documents, Web URLs, and other Open-Xchange objects offers First Network Mortgage an opportunity to increase the value it's offering users.

What suggestions would you offer to others who might be considering collaborative applications?
First Network Mortgage has gone through the whole experience of starting from early versions of Linux and open source software. Mr. Dominquez suggests that a centralized solution is required for high levels of efficiency. Careful selection of solutions partner, backup tools, management and deployment tools, are all important. A fragmented solution is now too costly to support. Customers don't care why a solution is unavailable. They want their environment to always be available and perform well.

System solutions has gone to great efforts to help First Network Mortgage including documenting how the system should be used, configuring the system to provide the best performance and then by providing ongoing support.

"It's important to have a clear understanding of what is needed to support the business when selecting a partner and a solution. The partner needs to be committed to supporting the day-to-day operations of the business.", he said.

For additional information, please contact:

SYSTEMS SOLUTIONS
160 Broadway, 15th Floor
New York, NY 10038

www.systemssolutions.com