Volume 16, Issue 4 (4)
Investing in employees training in the use of Emortelle will allow your Financial Institution to see the long-term benefits that come with the enhancements & upgrades to the Software. MSD’s Training workshops contribute to the development of users by showcasing more efficient methods of using Emortelle in specialised areas to fit every Job Portfolio.
Many times, an upgrade will includenew features, enhanced user interface and improved processes that will allow businesses to be more productive in the long run and reduce human errors. However, because of all these changes and new processes, it is quite unlikely all users (employees) will harmonious when learning the system on their own, which can prevent the institution from seeing all the Vendor promised with new features and upgrades.Thus, the importance of interactive sessions with our Facilitators and other participants can assist with enhanced knowledge, as well as provide greater insight and perspective for overall productivity and performance.
We encourage training so that the software can be utilised to its fullest potential; thus, ensuring all benefits are derived from the effective use of the software.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the safety guidelines, MSD’s Training Centre only allows six (6) persons on site at a given time; thus, ensuring that persons are at least 6 ft apart. All other safety protocols, such as, the wearing of mask at all times and the regular use of hand sanitisers must be adhered to while in the Training Centre.
LOOK OUT FOR OUR UPCOMING TRAINING IN THE FIRST QUARTER
- Dividend Training
- System Administrator Training
- New: ML Post/GL and Year End Post
- Deposit Interest Management
- IFRS9 Management
It’s time to move to solid state.
Anyone with an interest in computers has heard the term SSD mentioned before and most new desktop computers and laptop purchased in the last two years would usually have an SSD installed in them. SSD’s (Solid State Drives) are flash-based storage drives which are faster than the traditional mechanical based (spinning disk) type we’ve all grown accustomed to. The technology used in SSD offers much better disk I/O (input-output) performance when compared to the standard 7200rpm drive or even the 10-15,000 RPM high-performance server drives. Unfortunately due to the higher cost of SSDs they are still rare in new server builds. The price per GB of SSD storage is always going down and it is now easy to find many selling for under USD $ 0.10 per Gigabyte. With those current prices it’s easy to recommend that all computers in use today have some form of solid state storage installed.
Storage speed has a major effect on your Emortelle database performance as this component can be the slowest part of an Emortelle server. Similar information is given in the ctreeACE Administrator Guide document by Faircom – a snippet of that is shown below
Testing the theory
A test was done to get a real world comparison on the speed results of using the two types of hard drive storage. An Emortelle 9.1 server was setup with two identical databases residing on two different storage types and timed for various reports. The machine used had the follow specs.
CPU Intel Core2Duo E7500 Memory 4GB OS Windows 10 Pro (build 2004) Drive 1 Crucial SSD 500GB Drive 2 Western Digital 250GB 7200rpm
The table below shows the tasks and results.
Module/Activity SSD vs HDD using the same parameters Report/Worksheets/Current 8x faster to complete Update/Loans/Report/Trial Balance 30x faster to complete Reports/Management/Statement 9x faster to complete Extracting database backup (644Mb) 5x faster to complete
The figures shown give an idea the speed improvement that can be expected with using an SSD to store the Emortelle database. The process to upgrade to an SSD in an existing server is dependent on availability of an SATA interface on the server’s motherboard and chassis. Depending on the current storage system and partitioning in use it can also add complexities to the upgrade.
To Our Valuable Customers, Happy New Year (2021)!!
2020 has been a tumultuous year for all of us, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has adversely impacted our businesses, operations and way of life. Despite all the hardship the pandemic has caused our world economies, we continue to provide the support that you have come to expect from us. The hope for a better future, fuels our resilience, determination and our commitment to support you and your members. At MSD, we are very hopeful and optimistic that in 2021, the economies will begin to round the corner from this pandemic.
In 2021, we are also very excited about the pending launch of our next generation Core Banking System (CBS), eMortelle version 10 (eV10), which will take place in the 2nd Quarter of the year. We believe this version of the software will be a game-changer for our customers and prospective customers, as it will mean greater cost savings, faster processing times and ease of use for them. eV10, which is completely web-based, will allow users the ability to access the CBS anytime and anywhere. Customers will have a choice of hosting the CBS in their environment or it can be hosted in the cloud; thus, allowing customers the flexibility to implement eV10 based on their requirements and budgets. No longer will customers have to concern themselves about installing the client app on desktops or laptops, or about client software updates, (all of which can be time consuming, as well as costly in terms of hardware upgrades). To get connected to the CBS, customers will only require a laptop, tablet or desktop (minimum specs) and a widely used browser (as eV10 supports most browsers); for remote connection or if cloud hosted, a stable internet connection is required. In addition, the redesigned interface has a fresher look and is easier to navigate and use.
We have also redesigned the CBS backend and included key features such as, the ability for the CBS to support multiple SQL database types (such as, Faircom, Oracle, MS SQL, MySQL, etc.), as well as the ability to replicate the database. The ability for the CBS to support multiple SQL database structures offers an inherent cost savings to customers, by allowing them to utilise their existing SQL database licenses, without having to invest in expertise and time to incorporate a different structure into their environment. In addition, the CBS will also facilitate the replication of the database, thus, allowing the process of storing data in more than one site or node. This will allow institutions to plan and develop more effective disaster recovery programmes, so as to minimise the risk of system downtime. The CBS architecture is also server driven, which allows processing to be done on the server and the results are returned to the frontend; this approach will allow reports and queries to be executed faster. Our initial results from the faster execution of reports and queries are very encouraging.
It is worth noting, eV10 builds on the current functionalities of eV9.1 plus it offers many more enhancements than before. These additional features and functionalities of eV10 were based on our customers’ requests and the general direction of where the technology landscape is heading. The vision and the development of eV10 remain very consistent with our brand promise of “Committed to Customer Satisfaction, Software Excellence & Integrity”. At MSD, we are very excited about eV10 pending launch, as we believe the CBS will improve our customers’ overall efficiency and effectiveness in the way they conduct their businesses.
In closing, MSD wishes to thank our valued customers for their continued support in 2020. We would like to take this opportunity to extend best wishes to you and your members, and may you have a very happy, prosperous and safe 2021.
MSD is pleased to advise that despite the economic constraints of 2020; we experienced continued growth as we emerged the preferred supplier for three (3) new customers in 2020. We were successfully chosen to supply Applications to a Jamaican Thrift Co-operative, a premier local Bank's Human Resource Department and a notable local Mortgage Company for online services. This undoubtedly has accelerated our spirit to continue to provide innovative, relevant and reliable solutions and services despite any challenges that may present itself.
Additionally, 2020 brought an increase in the number of customers implementing Online Services such as, Online Banking, Mobile App and ACH in order to optimise their service delivery promise to their members, given the social distancing requirement that evolved with the Covid-19 pandemic. MSD understands that the ultimate users of our Applications are the members/customers of the Financial Institutions under our care, so we are duty-bound in readiness to provide solutions to ensure that your service experience in changing times remain at a high standard. We express kudos to our customers for maintaining excellent service to their customers by adopting innovative technologies within your processes during these unprecedented times.
Despite it being a challenging year, our customers kept their AML/CFT directive in place for compliance by signing on to the Emortelle Due Diligence feature which saw MSD outselling our initial several hundred thousand Dow Jones Factiva subscriptions. Customers are reminded that we are able to bring this integrated, high quality data to you at an extremely low cost based on our economies of scale Reseller contract with Dow Jones. Additionally, we emphasise the integrated aspect of this feature which increases efficiency and effective of transaction monitoring, since screening details can be viewed in Emortelle at the point of actual on boarding, deposit taking and lending as well as afterward onscreen lookups and generated reports at your convenience.
2020 saw the majority of our customers in St Lucia implementing ATM Services which undoubtedly boosted their digital presence to their members. We again extend congratulations to the St Lucia Credit Unions and their League for bringing this relevant facility to their members, especially during the pandemic, considering all the limitations members would have experienced accessing their funds.
Additionally, all our ATM Online credit union customers in Jamaica who already have the Multi Link card in use, signed on to implement the Mastercard Debit Card in January of 2021. We offer congratulations to our Jamaican credit unions for offering international fund access to their members and to their League, whom we once again had the pleasure to work with on a project of this nature.
Understandably, whilst we are concerned for all regarding the economic impact of Covid-19, we are elated to see that our customers true to form, embraced technology as the driver to their service delivery mandate. We look forward to working with you on further implementations as you keep exceeding your customers’ expectations.
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