Continued Reliable IT Infrstucture Maintenance Needed, as well as Technology Growth

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The Challenge

ESB Bank is a community bank providing its customers with a complete array of financial products and services since 1915. As a Pennsylvania chartered, FDIC-insured stock savings bank, ESB Bank employs nearly 300 people serving 23 branch offices throughout western Pennsylvania. The bank offers a full line of checking accounts and savings products including certificates of deposit, online banking and bill paying services, 24-Hour Telephone Banking, money market accounts and IRAs. On the lending side, ESB Bank offers online home mortgage loans, automobile and consumer loans, home equity lines of credit, both fixed and adjustable, as well as student loans. The bank also offers business checking accounts and a variety of commercial loans.

For nearly 10 years, ESB Bank had relied on local firm, VAI/Computerland, for IT consulting and support. When Nortec purchased VAI/Computerland in 2005, ESB Bank was already full swing into a growth phase, and was interested in what Nortec could do to move its technology capabilities forward.

“We fit ESB Bank’s needs nicely,” said Dale Cearfoss, Nortec Account Representative, who was a legacy employee of VAI/Computerland and had worked with ESB Bank for the past 10 years. The bank had a small IT staff, and its technology needs were generally core IT support, backup functions, and network and desktop capabilities. But the bank had entered into a phase of growth with as many as two acquisitions per year, so its IT focus began to center on new branch launches, product roll-outs and emergency service.

ESB Bank had built one of western Pennsylvania’s largest network of community banks over 90 years by providing for the financial needs of its customers and community. In order to fulfill its mission of offering quality products and services, in addition to growing in a profitable and controlled manner, ESB Bank needed to continue to maintain a reliable IT infrastructure, as well as ensuring its technology grew with the bank’s rapidly expanding acquisitions.

The Solution

Over the 10-year relationship with ESB Bank, Nortec account representative Dale Cearfoss has provided everything from printers, file servers and data switches, to licensing and software support. “ESB Bank knows, no matter what, they’ll get a solution that’s best for the bank – whether it’s choosing us or even another vendor,” says Cearfoss.

John Fogg, Vice President of Information Technology at ESB Bank, explains: “If we need components, such as a new tape backup system, we’ll talk to Nortec about ideas and we’ll work together.”

Not only does Nortec provide maintenance, consulting, and emergency service, it also supports the bank’s custom and proprietary software applications. ESB Bank uses a proprietary software program, the capabilities of which are dictated, to a large degree, by the vendor. However, Nortec is able to provide consulting on fulfilling the vendor’s requirements, support on availability, and troubleshoots problems.

Nortec also assists ESB with licensing for all of the bank’s enterprise products. “This is very valuable to us, and I don’t know how they keep track of it all, but they always remind us when we need to renew,” says Fogg.

As the bank has expanded with new branches and product roll-outs, Cearfoss has seen the bank’s IT needs expand as well. In recent years, there has been less emphasis on desktop support, and more emphasis on higher levels of support outside the bank’s area of expertise. “Nortec’s always stays on top of the market, the tools, and technology. They really have a handle on what we need – they’re always two steps ahead of us,” says Fogg.

“We’ve helped ESB with tools for auditing – software that assists the bank’s IT department maintain its compliance,” says Cearfoss. Banking industry auditors are requiring an increasing number of compliance reports, which traditionally has taken weeks of manual reports and hundreds of man hours. However, Nortec introduced ESB to a product called BindView, which aids in network auditing, and generates event logs and reports. “The software increases our efficiency and cuts our time spent on reports dramatically,” said Fogg.

And even though the bank has added to its in-house IT staff over the years, ESB continues to rely on Nortec. “Our relationship is important because you can’t put a price on the number of times I’ve had to call our rep at home at 8 o’clock at night with a problem,” said Fogg. “I’ve called them all hours of the day and night and they’re always there and extremely competent.”

The Benefits

ESB Bank has never treated technology lightly. Decisions are weighed carefully and investments are thoughtful and considered. During the 10 years that Nortec account representative Dale Cearfoss has worked with ESB Bank, he’s come to understand the bank’s technology priorities and works to provide the bank with the information it needs to make technology decisions on its terms. “Even though ESB is frugal and conservative, we place a premium on service. We are constantly being solicited by other companies, but even so, we’ve stayed with Nortec,” says Fogg.

ESB Bank branches are perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of Nortec’s support and service. Because the branches are constantly printing receipts of transactions, Nortec’s same-day service on peripherals like printers is critical. “We do a ton of printing in the banking industry, and some of the departments absolutely and completely rely on their printers,” says Fogg. “Hands-down, without question, the availability Nortec has provided us in emergency situations has been crucial,” said Fogg.

ESB Bank is looking forward to its continued growth phase. And with an average
of two acquisitions per year, the bank knows that reliable IT support that can also grow with the firm is critical to keeping up. “Nortec understands our business goals and philosophy,” says Fogg. “We’ll say, ‘here’s the outcome we want to achieve,’ and they’ll get us there.”