Bank Finds 'Global' Solution to Information Access Problem

Published: March 28, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Bend, Oregon-based Bank of the Cascades regularly makes the list of the top companies and financial services institutions in the Pacific Northwest. With 21 branches in the state, and two more planned over the next 15 months, growth is not something the bank is lacking.

What the Bank of the Cascades was lacking, however, was an easy way to access its back-end OS/400 data in Excel format. While its core banking solution from Jack Henry is known as a reliable stable platform, it didn't offer a convenient way to get financial reporting and analysis-related data into a more extensible format.

That was before the bank implemented the Spreadsheet Server for Bankers application from Global Software, a North Carolina software developer. "When we saw Spreadsheet Server for use in conjunction with Jack Henry we knew we had found the solution that we were lacking at Bank of the Cascades," says Terri McCreary, the bank's controller.

What's more, McCreary says, Spreadsheet Server provides "a validation vehicle that allows our financial users drill-down to the transactions that make up those balances we bring into the Spreadsheet Server solution. What else can I say, we love this tool."