CASE STUDY
Automated Financial Systems ( AFS ) is a global leader in providing real-time , endto-end commercial lending solutions to the world ’ s top-tier institutions as well as regional and de novo clients .
Solely dedicated to the financial industry , AFS solutions process more than US $ 3 trillion in small business , commercial , CRE , wealth management and syndicated loans daily .
That ’ s no small task , especially when more business equals more data . . . and business is booming .
“ We ’ ve , thankfully , been quite successful when it comes to adding and retaining customers . But inevitably , that success began to impact our IT operations , particularly our Disaster Recovery ( DR ) strategy ,” said Laney . “ We were faced with having to build out our DR systems in a much , much bigger way than we ever had previously . It was a daunting task .”
Headquartered in Exton , Pennsylvania , AFS operates what ’ s billed as the world ’ s largest and only fully integrated commercial lending system – with 25 of the top-100 banks using AFS products and services .
As CIO , Rad Laney is responsible for ensuring that AFS , and all its precious data , remains secure and available 24x7x365 .
For the last two decades , AFS has kept its IT operations largely in-house , developing and hosting its own software . No strangers to ‘ DIY IT ’, this meant Laney and his team were solely responsible for maintaining the company ’ s Business Continuity efforts , which included operating two data center locations in Pennsylvania . Each site was configured to failover to the other and vice versa , keeping the business continuously available in the event of a disaster .
WE WERE FACED WITH HAVING TO BUILD OUT OUR DR SYSTEMS IN A MUCH , MUCH BIGGER WAY
THAN WE EVER HAD PREVIOUSLY . IT WAS A DAUNTING TASK .
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