Full-Service IT Partners with Chicago-Area Community Bank

Company Profile

Allied First Bank is a local Chicago-area community bank and nationwide mortgage lender that prides itself on offering its customers a high-tech touch. Founded in 1994, Allied’s 225 employees provide personal and commercial banking, including checking and savings accounts, loan services, and deposit products such as CDs and Money Market accounts.

Business Challenge

Allied First Bank approached BKS in 2009 with a need for part-time IT support to aid one full-time employee.

Solution and Ongoing Work

The relationship between BKS and Allied First Bank began 10 years ago as a simple support solution. Today, BKS is the full-time IT management partner for Allied First and the company no longer employs any internal IT professionals. We manage 8 servers nationwide, 200 desktop and laptop computers, and over 150 mobile devices.

BKS also planned and executed the bank’s migration to Office 365 Cloud Services and cloud phone services. We are the IT foundation of this bank provide the following ongoing IT services:

• Cloud-based backup and storage
• 24/7 support
• Endpoint management
• IT Disaster recovery planning
• Microsoft Office 365 management
• Spam/Virus filtering and management

As experts in banking IT solutions, BKS has also taken over management of all Allied regulation and compliance guidance as they relate to FFIEC guidelines.

Results

The effectiveness of the success of BKS Systems managed IT services for Allied First Bank can be measured in two ways. First, Allied First has trusted BKS for 10 years to manage and help grow their business IT. This trust has been achieved after years of the very best in client services and our commitment to ensuring the long-term stability of the company’s complex IT systems.

Secondly, Allied First would need a team of up to four full-time IT professionals to handle the workload of what BKS provides. Over the course of our 10-year partnership, the company has easily saved over seven figures in staffing costs alone by employing the services of a managed IT service provider.