Posted by Lisa Hochgraf
Credit unions definitely find benefit from having "likely" partners--you know, partners you would expect them to have. But yesterday I got the idea that they might also find benefit from partners that might seem less likely at first.
Some likely CU partners I'm enthusiastic about this week are the owners of Open Technology Solutions, a Colorado-based CUSO owned by four like-minded billion dollar credit unions. OTS is designed to help these CUs "share" IT and benefit from economies of scale. The CUSO is helping its owners save money by negotiating vendor contracts for larger (shared) volumes--and by allowing them to share IT staff, especially those with special skills. It's a great concept and beautiful proof that cooperation and collaboration can build success. (CUES and FSF members can read a story about this partnership in "Tech CUSO Drives Economies of Scale" on CUES Tech Port. E-mail cues@cues.org if you need your membership password.)
After the long Internet outage I experienced in my home office yesterday, I had the idea that unlikely partnerships could save companies lots of money, too--not to mention keep customers happy! My Internet outage started when the phone company came to bury my neighbor's new phone line (put in to accommodate their new pool, lucky folks)! About the time that the digging started, my cable modem went out. Wham!
My neighbors say that the phone company and cable Internet provider consistently cut each other's lines. If the phone company has to bury cable, the cable provider has to do a repair. If the cable provider has to bury cable, the phone company has to do a repair. Think of all the cost-savings--to both companies--if they would agree to do better for each other's lines--and customers!
I'd love to learn more about CU readers' likely and unlikely partnerships that are meeting with success. And if any of you have tips on how I can get my phone company and Internet provider to work together, please comment!
