Challenge
MECU is a financial institution headquartered in suburban Chicago. Founded in 1939, MECU provides financial services, including savings, checking, loan, and investment products. Serving nearly 40,000 members, the organization conducts business through mobile and online banking, 80,000 surcharge-free ATMs, and 6,800 shared branches. MECU’s core principle of “Putting you first” reflects an unwavering commitment to demonstrate uncommon courtesy, respect, and integrity in each interaction with every member.
People are finicky with their finances. You can’t take chances with private and personal data access and applications availability when you’ve got 40,000 consumer members interacting with systems that serve up everything from online checking to mobile investment. Accordingly, MECU knew it needed to upgrade an outdated tape-based recovery environment with a backup/ disaster recovery (DR) solution.
This solution had to provide better data protection, hardened security, increased regulatory compliance, and, above all, recoverability of data and applications from anywhere in the event of a disaster.
- As part of a large global user base, MECU needed to partner with a solution provider having depth of experience and solid familiarity with financial institutions in diverse operating environments.
- Considering the huge transmission volume of sensitive financial data, MECU required fluid, no-compromise backup security for all transactions.
- MECU could not dilute the operations efficiency of existing IT staff with the detailed issues regarding the design, implementation, testing, and documentation of a new backup/DR environment. A trustworthy “turnkey” partner was needed to create a new solution.
Solution
As part of meticulous solution planning and deployment, OnX and Alloya Corporate FCU (a wholesale financial institution serving over 1,600 credit union member-owners, including MECU) identified MECU’s key objectives, and without exception, met each one:
- OnX’s backup/DR solution combines state-of-the-art virtualized/cloud technology; powerful software and unparalleled engineering intelligence to provide tested-and-documented 24×7 access to data/applications (including MECU’s vitally important core processor, Fiserv) made available across all endpoints of MECU’s enterprise in any DR scenario.
- Efficiency and top-tier security are priorities for OnX Enterprise Solutions’ fully unified backup/DR solution. The managed data backup process features de-duplication, compression, and advanced encryption to promote efficient and highly secure data transmission. What’s more, OnX’s data centers are security hardened with advanced physical and technology barriers to safeguard operations and infrastructure.
- Working side by side with MECU IT management, OnX assessed old solution pain points, engineered the right mix of flexible/scalable technology, carefully deployed solution elements, tested segments of the solution, and then orchestrated a “like real” catastrophic event to stress the full solution and corroborate the resiliency of the new backup/DR environment. Supported by in-depth documentation, including event-test success authentication, the solution highlights OnX’s commitment to the highest standards of professionalism.
Results
- By moving to a virtualized, cloud environment, MECU gained 24×7 access to their data and applications across all endpoints of the enterprise for any disaster recovery scenario.
- MECU’s conversion from an outdated tape-based environment to a custom backup and restore solution diminished risk by ensuring minimal downtime, preventing data loss, and giving them the ability to recover operations fully and quickly.
- With the managed data backup process in place, MECU increased efficiency and security through de-duplication, compression, and advanced encryption.