Fitch upgrades HML to RPS1- for UK residential prime and sub-prime

StratexSystems is very pleased to announce that HML’s UK residential primary (prime and sub-prime) servicer ratings have been upgraded to RPS1- from RPS2+ by Fitch. HML’s new RPS1- primary (prime) servicer rating is the highest of any third-party mortgage administration company in the UK and Ireland. Its RPS1- primary (sub-prime) rating is the highest in Europe.

The rating agency highlighted HML’s robust internal control and risk management frameworks, as well as an increased focus on staff training and IT investment, particularly the company’s iPortal online client reporting tool.

Commenting on the rating upgrades, Andrew Jones, chief executive officer of HML, said: “We are delighted with the news that Fitch has upgraded our UK residential primary (prime and sub-prime) servicer ratings from RPS2+ to RPS1-. We are now the highest-rated third-party mortgage administration company in the UK and Ireland for UK residential primary (prime) and the highest-rated in Europe for UK residential primary (sub-prime) by Fitch.

“Fitch highlighted our robust internal control and risk management frameworks, as well as our investment in IT, as particular strengths. We operate in a tough regulatory regime, and we are proud of our quality culture and environment, which reflect HML’s experience and stability.

“In the past 18 months we have secured 17 new contracts across all of our offerings, including mortgage servicing, analytics, standby servicing and unsecured lending. This reflects how our procedures and systems are robust and highly regarded within the market.”

The Power of Powershell

We here at StratexSystems believe in utilising tools that help perform tasks efficiently and ultimately make our daily work with SharePoint easy.

One such tool is SharePoint Management Shell or as it is more commonly referred to 'Windows Powershell'. This is used to manage SharePoint through the use of command lines - custom command-lets, instead of going through SharePoint Central Administration.

We came across a situation in one of our Client projects recently where, we were processing a large amount of data into one SharePoint environment, which was then to be imaged onto a second SharePoint environment. There was redundant data, for example primarily thousands of rows in the Recycle Bin that were unnecessarily taking space and time to process for the image of the second SharePoint environment.

A quick solution to was to use Powershell to clear the bulk data from the Recycle Bin. Here is the process and command script we used:

1. Open SharePoint Management Shell (right click and select Run as Administrator)

2. Modify Site collection Url in following script and execute:

$sitecollectionUrl = "ENTER YOUR SHAREPOINT SITE URL" $siteCollection = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.SPSite($sitecollectionUrl) write-host("Items to be deleted : " +$siteCollection.RecycleBin.Count.toString()) $now = Get-Date write-host("Deleting started at " +$now.toString()) $siteCollection.RecycleBin.DeleteAll(); $now = Get-Date write-host("Deleting completed at " +$now.toString()) $siteCollection.Dispose();

Process time will obviously depend on the amount of data to be cleared, once the script has finshed some stats will appear to help give an analysis.

This is a prime example, one of many in Powershell where going through Site Settings in SharePoint or through Central Administration is not practical or feasible.

How to Drive Sustainable SharePoint Adoption in Your Organization

Microsoft market research indicates that 78% of Fortune 500 companies are SharePoint users. Every day for the past five years, 20,000 workers have joined the ranks of SharePoint users. One in every five knowledge workers now has access to SharePoint, but that doesn’t mean these workers are properly trained in how to use SharePoint.

Read the rest of the article at CMSWIRE

Process Governance – Bridging the Gap between Strategy and Operation

Process management involves monitoring and managing the performance of, and risks and controls related to, operational processes to ensure the delivery of the strategy while operating within risk appetite.

By focusing on process management, organisations can improve their operational efficiency, become more innovative and respond with greater agility to the needs of the market. There is also evidence that process-managed enterprises are highly effective at cutting costs across the value chain.

From an operational point of view, many organisations have adopted process improvement methodologies such as Six Sigma and LEAN.

StratexPoint is the only SharePoint application which enables organisations to close the gap between strategy and operations by integrating process management within a performance and risk management solution. Within the solution, users can:

· Define their key operational processes and visualise these using Microsoft Visio

· Define risks and controls related to processes

· Conduct process related risk and control assessments

· Define indictors for processes

· Align initiatives and actions to drive process improvements

· Define accountability for processes using the RACI model

· Automated process and systems related risk and controls dashboards and reporting, while enabling advanced analytics

· Encourage a collaborative approach to executing processes via commentary, alerts and other web 2.0 collaboration capabilities

· Automated risk and controls dashboards and reporting, while enabling advanced analytics

The Importance of Effective Strategy Management

Strategy management has rarely been more critical to organisations than today. They must constantly search for ways to grow, creating value for shareholders and clients. To be successful, executives must formulate clear plans with a concise set of objectives; define the risks related to those plans and implement a change agenda to deliver its objectives while operating within its risk appetite.

Our solution, StratexPoint enables executives to more effectively manage their strategy by:

· Developing clarity around the direction and goals of the organisation

· Defining risk appetite in relation to your strategic goals

· Allocate resources to the most important initiatives

· Assess strategic performance and identify areas of improvement

· Automating strategy-related workflows and review processes

· Define ownership and governance for performance and risk using the RACI model

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. Sun Tzu

9 Things StratexPoint Enables Users to do…

StratexPoint is the only SharePoint application which is specifically designed to support an integrated approach to performance and risk management, and specifically the Risk-Based Performance methodology. Within the solutions users are able to:

1. Define strategic objectives and map these using a strategy map

2. Define key and emerging risks and map these using a risk map

3. Define risk appetite within the context of the defined objectives and risks

4. Manage and monitor the alignment of risk exposure to appetite

5. Define a set of Key Indicators, KPIs, KRIs and KCIs

6. Align the organisational change agenda to deliver the objectives via initiatives and actions

7. Encourage the right culture using the RACI model to define ownership and governance

8. Automated performance dashboards and reporting, while enabling advanced analytics

9. Encourage a collaborative approach to delivering performance via commentary, alerts and other web 2.0 collaboration capabilities