The Advantages of a Cloud-Based LOS
One of the most critical choices a lender, bank or credit union faces in running their business comes to one question: where does the technology that runs your mortgage operation “live?” Do you keep your loan origination system (LOS) in-house, or do you trust a vendor to host it in the cloud?
It seems like an easy decision: after all, wouldn’t you think keeping your LOS in-house and under your watchful eye is better for your business? With the tech “living” inside your organization, as opposed to being cloud-based, you would think it’s easier to monitor for issues and deploy new solutions on your schedule. But hosting your LOS yourself, could be quietly eating away at your organization’s efficiency, without you even noticing.
The cost of keeping up with changes
While it’s true you can keep a closer eye on your LOS in-house than you could if it were cloud-based, that comes with a glaring problem: you have to keep a closer eye on your LOS in-house than if it were cloud-based. Someone (or multiple people) in your organization have to devote a large portion of their time and energy to monitoring, maintaining, troubleshooting and updating your LOS. Not to mention, it costs money to host your own technology.
When your LOS is hosted in the cloud, the time, cost and energy of keeping the lights on is placed solely in the hands of the vendor. Vendors who provide a cloud-based LOS will handle the backend work and free up your employees to focus on moving your business forward instead of just treading water.
Adding more to the mix
A cloud-based LOS truly starts to shine once it’s time to add new mortgage solutions to the technology stack. New systems aren’t guaranteed to integrate cleanly with one another right out of the box – it’s just a fact of the industry (though it’s far less likely to happen when you choose an LOS that integrates with its own ecosystems of digital solutions from one provider). But when your cloud-based LOS and solutions ecosystem come from a single vendor, that means you know exactly who to get in touch with if and when issues arise. With one point of contact, there’s no longer a need to hunt down individual vendors and try to troubleshoot problems in a piecemeal manner.
An improved customer experience on the go
When your LOS lives in the cloud, that means your employees have more freedom to work from anywhere. A centralized hosting point allows web access to a plethora of online tools like point-of-sale and document management designed to speed up the application and loan origination process.
In-house systems tend to keep loan officers at their desks, but a cloud-based LOS means they can meet members and borrowers all across town throughout the day without losing the capabilities to access necessary software.
Confidence in data security
One of the most important things for a lender to lock down is the security of their data. Anyone gaining unauthorized access to customers’ or borrowers’ NPI would be devastating for an organization.
Much like handling the maintenance costs, when you select a cloud-based LOS from a trusted vendor, you can have both the cost-savings and the peace of mind that comes with knowing someone else has made your data security their top priority. To see even more advantages that come with a cloud-based LOS from a trusted provider, contact Black Knight today.
