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    Sungard AS keeps The Funding Corporation firing on all cylinders

    The Funding Corporation (TFC) needed an IT partner it could count on to keep core operations running uninterrupted. Solution: Sungard AS Workplace Recovery.

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    Overview

    case-study-logo-funding-corporation-200x100

    The Funding Corporation is an independent finance group that also owns ACF Car Finance Limited, a national network of used car dealerships that retails the vehicles funded by TFC.

    TFC specializes in the non-prime marketplace, enabling customers with compromised credit records to apply for personal finance that might not otherwise be available from mainstream lenders. It employs more than 150 staff, the majority of whom are based at its Chester head office and contact center. The business relies heavily on IT and, recognizing the importance of ensuring high availability, chose Sungard AS to host and manage its critical systems. Principal IT System Engineer Emlyn Vaughan-Edmunds explains, “It’s vital we have an IT infrastructure we can rely on as this ensures we remain both compliant with regulatory requirements, and able to maintain confidence in the integrity of our electronic storage and retrieval systems.”

    The Funding Corporation (TFC) has been a Sungard AS customer since 2004. Emlyn Vaughan-Edmunds explains the finance group chose Sungard AS as its IT partner because, “Sungard is well respected in the marketplace. It’s got the infrastructure, proven processes and technical expertise. It’s a company others try to emulate.”

    It’s vital we have an IT infrastructure we can rely on as this ensures we remain both compliant with regulatory requirements, and able to maintain confidence in the integrity of our electronic storage and retrieval systems.

    - Principal IT System Engineer, The Funding Corporation

    Challenge

    To keep IT operations running uninterrupted

    The Funding Corporation (TFC) relies considerably on IT to execute its market-dominant role of providing millions of pounds’ worth of non-prime loans each year to private car buyers. It needed an IT partner it could count on to keep core operations running uninterrupted.

    It’s vital we have an IT infrastructure we can rely on as this ensures we remain both compliant with regulatory requirements, and able to maintain confidence in the integrity of our electronic storage and retrieval systems.

    Principal IT Engineer, The Funding Corporation

    Solution

    Workplace Recovery and high-availability hosting

    TFC is well aware of the potentially catastrophic consequences of IT failure. It trusts Sungard AS to host its most critical applications, which run on Oracle and Unix platforms, at Sungard AS’s highly resilient London Technology Center. These include the specialist loan administration system on which TFC’s entire business depends. All systems and data are backed up to Sungard AS’s geographically separate Technology Centre 2 for added reassurance.

    Chester-based TFC also contracts 100 shared Workplace Recovery positions at one of Sungard AS’s workplace recovery centers, which will give core staff a fully-equipped alternative workplace in the event its own contact center is unavailable or inaccessible for any reason. Emlyn Vaughan-Edmunds explains, “It means the duties of key employees responsible for all aspects of loan applications and servicing plus other essential customer liaison work will remain uncompromised by any type of unscheduled event affecting our systems.

    Solution

    Benefit

    High availability of critical systems and data saves money and supports customer service

    TFC places great importance on customer care and has won a number of finance industry awards for its forward-looking policies for treating customers fairly. As Emlyn Vaughan-Edmunds notes, such policies need to be evidenced by action and not just paid lip service: “Sungard plays a very important role in this respect as it ensures that customers will continue to receive the same level of attention, service and care under all circumstances.”

    Business benefits

    • High availability of critical systems and data
    • Prevents financial loss
    • Underpins The Funding Corporation’s customer care policies
    • Access to specialist technical expertise.

    To date, TFC has not had cause to invoke Sungard AS’s services although, in line with good practice, it puts its plans to the test with an annual crisis simulation in which contact center staff take live calls from the Sungard AS workplace recovery center.

    TFC values the relationship it has built with Sungard AS over the years. “My exposure to Sungard has been very positive. From experience, I know the people I deal with genuinely have our interests at heart and will do what they can to help us – that’s more important than saving a few pennies. Trust and rapport take time to build and should not be undervalued.”

    case-study-logo-funding-corporation-200x100

    The Funding Corporation is an independent finance group that also owns ACF Car Finance Limited, a national network of used car dealerships that retails the vehicles funded by TFC.

    TFC specializes in the non-prime marketplace, enabling customers with compromised credit records to apply for personal finance that might not otherwise be available from mainstream lenders. It employs more than 150 staff, the majority of whom are based at its Chester head office and contact center. The business relies heavily on IT and, recognizing the importance of ensuring high availability, chose Sungard AS to host and manage its critical systems. Principal IT System Engineer Emlyn Vaughan-Edmunds explains, “It’s vital we have an IT infrastructure we can rely on as this ensures we remain both compliant with regulatory requirements, and able to maintain confidence in the integrity of our electronic storage and retrieval systems.”

    The Funding Corporation (TFC) has been a Sungard AS customer since 2004. Emlyn Vaughan-Edmunds explains the finance group chose Sungard AS as its IT partner because, “Sungard is well respected in the marketplace. It’s got the infrastructure, proven processes and technical expertise. It’s a company others try to emulate.”

    It’s vital we have an IT infrastructure we can rely on as this ensures we remain both compliant with regulatory requirements, and able to maintain confidence in the integrity of our electronic storage and retrieval systems.

    - Principal IT System Engineer, The Funding Corporation

    To keep IT operations running uninterrupted

    The Funding Corporation (TFC) relies considerably on IT to execute its market-dominant role of providing millions of pounds’ worth of non-prime loans each year to private car buyers. It needed an IT partner it could count on to keep core operations running uninterrupted.

    It’s vital we have an IT infrastructure we can rely on as this ensures we remain both compliant with regulatory requirements, and able to maintain confidence in the integrity of our electronic storage and retrieval systems.

    Principal IT Engineer, The Funding Corporation

    Workplace Recovery and high-availability hosting

    TFC is well aware of the potentially catastrophic consequences of IT failure. It trusts Sungard AS to host its most critical applications, which run on Oracle and Unix platforms, at Sungard AS’s highly resilient London Technology Center. These include the specialist loan administration system on which TFC’s entire business depends. All systems and data are backed up to Sungard AS’s geographically separate Technology Centre 2 for added reassurance.

    Chester-based TFC also contracts 100 shared Workplace Recovery positions at one of Sungard AS’s workplace recovery centers, which will give core staff a fully-equipped alternative workplace in the event its own contact center is unavailable or inaccessible for any reason. Emlyn Vaughan-Edmunds explains, “It means the duties of key employees responsible for all aspects of loan applications and servicing plus other essential customer liaison work will remain uncompromised by any type of unscheduled event affecting our systems.

    Solution

    High availability of critical systems and data saves money and supports customer service

    TFC places great importance on customer care and has won a number of finance industry awards for its forward-looking policies for treating customers fairly. As Emlyn Vaughan-Edmunds notes, such policies need to be evidenced by action and not just paid lip service: “Sungard plays a very important role in this respect as it ensures that customers will continue to receive the same level of attention, service and care under all circumstances.”

    Business benefits

    • High availability of critical systems and data
    • Prevents financial loss
    • Underpins The Funding Corporation’s customer care policies
    • Access to specialist technical expertise.

    To date, TFC has not had cause to invoke Sungard AS’s services although, in line with good practice, it puts its plans to the test with an annual crisis simulation in which contact center staff take live calls from the Sungard AS workplace recovery center.

    TFC values the relationship it has built with Sungard AS over the years. “My exposure to Sungard has been very positive. From experience, I know the people I deal with genuinely have our interests at heart and will do what they can to help us – that’s more important than saving a few pennies. Trust and rapport take time to build and should not be undervalued.”