Loan Center of California (LCC), located in Suisun, California, is a privately held wholesale mortgage company specializing in Alt-A and MTA first and second home loans that originate in California. LCC prides itself on delivering the most competitive mortgage technology in the country with its exclusive automated pricing and underwriting system, Rateprice.com.
In the home lending business, where fluctuating interest rates, buyers' individual circumstances, and stiff competition can make or break loan approval, response time is critical. LCC maintains a strict 24-hour window for the underwriting process, and when administrators learned that employee Internet use was the largest factor contributing to system latency, they immediately set out to implement a solution that would quickly and effectively filter inappropriate Web access.
The Need to Monitor Internet Access
Previously, LCC had maintained an open Internet policy among its employees, with the understanding that Web access was for work-related use. However, LCC soon found that certain individuals were spending significant amounts of time on sites that were unrelated to their business objectives. Social networking sites such as MySpace.com were high on the list of distractions, along with online retailers and Web-based email applications. Streaming music, instant messaging (IM), and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing were also popular among employees. These activities not only slowed down the network and opened the door to a host of compliance issues but also put the lender at risk for Internet-based threats. In order to avoid any security or legal implications associated with these activities, LCC needed a solution that would conform to its Internet Policy and prevent system infections by Web-related threats.
Monitoring Solution
After testing several available software and hardware monitoring and reporting solutions, LCC chose St. Bernard's iPrism to report and monitor its employees' online activities. The dedicated hardware appliance was selected based on its cost-effectiveness, real-time Internet monitoring, and ability to prevent system infections while still providing a zero-maintenance approach to administration. LCC also benefits from iPrism's iGuard URL database, which enforces Acceptable Use Policies based on sites that are 100 percent "human reviewed." iGuard analysts work around the clock to ensure that the content and context of every URL within iGuard's 63 categories are accurately and reliably rated. iGuard also includes spyware, malware, and phishing site categorizations that are updated hourly.
Since LCC deployed iPrism, the organization's administrators have stopped receiving employee requests to fix slow Internet connections and frozen computers. Thanks to the appliance's proprietary kernel-level filtering technology, LCC can now accurately block all high-bandwidth Web sites without increased latency.
The management team at LCC has also benefited from iPrism's deployment. Instead of worrying about whether or not employees are surfing the Web, managers can now focus on their overall strategic business objectives. In addition, the detailed Internet usage reports that iPrism provides give HR the necessary tools to proactively address any inappropriate employee behavior and provide managers with valuable insight for employee evaluations.
Before iPrism was installed, employees at LCC had an open Internet. Now, the company is assured that all Web traffic (aside from management overrides) contributes to profitable business results. Since iPrism's installation, the lender has developed a refined system of resource request and management with its employees. Currently, a typical day has an average of just three to five override permits, bringing the new "productivity meter," a measure of business use, to an estimated 93 to 95 percent.
Ron Walker, the system administrator responsible for the iPrism deployment, is no longer concerned about employee adherence to the company's Internet use policy. Walker says that with iPrism installed, he can "rest easy, knowing that Web sites with illicit content will never infect our systems." Whereas he previously spent significant time and resources working on issues related to latency, pop-ups, and viruses, he can now dedicate his time to maintaining the company's system architecture. And he knows that all company Internet traffic is compliant and contributes to business results.
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