August 22, 2008
RATA Associates is proud to announce the official release of Comply 7.0. This latest version of Comply has been re-architected to make the system more powerful, easier to use and much more efficient. Many of the comments and suggestions made by our clients over the last few years have been incorporated into Comply 7.0, and we have much more planned for the near future and beyond.
Although migrating to the Comply 7.x product will be mandatory before March 1, 2009, to do your annual submissions, exactly when you upgrade will be up to you. The reason we mention this is that there will be another required update (Comply 7.1) in late November that will actually contain the submission module for the 2008 submissions and will also contain the Fair Lending functionality for those using that component. So, you can either install 7.0 now and begin using the newest functionality and then upgrade the system again in November, or you can opt to wait and do a single upgrade to 7.1 in November. Depending on how frequently and robustly you are currently using the system should help you decide when you should update.
After reading through this email, if you would like to receive the update, simply send a quick response to this email stating that ”I would like to receive the update” and we will ship it to you.
As mentioned above, this is a major release and there have been quite a few significant changes. Here is a list of some of the major changes and enhancements.
Components Have Been Merged
With the Comply 7.0 version, all of the individual components have been merged together into one User Interface. In previous versions, even though the data was stored in one Database, you had to click on multiple icons to access the individual HMDA, CRA, HMDA Fair Lending and CRA Fair Lending modules. Now you will only need to click on one icon and all of the licensed components will be accessible to you. User Access, Rights and
Privileges
With all of the components being accessed from one icon, there arose a need to enhance the User Rights and Privileges within the system. Now with User Access, you can define User Groups for each component and assign access rights for each component. When creating custom User Groups you will have full access to customize permissions any way you like. Version 7.0 now supports Windows Authentication for automatic sign in.
Multiple Tabs and Views
In Version 6.0, you were limited to one view of data at a time. With Version 7.0 you can have multiple “Tabs” of data open at the same time. Tab types include Application View, List View, Definition Manager, Maps, Reports, Report Manager, Hierarchy View and more! Each tab is context-sensitive as the data and filters are completely isolated.
Data Hierarchy and Importing
With the 7.0 system, you no longer need to have homogeneous data when it comes to Regions and Branches. The system will now load data that has this information into the correct Region or Branch and then put data without this information into NoRegion or NoBranch folders. Also, you can now create a Region or Branch folder, load data to that folder, and it will automatically populate the Region or Branch field with the corresponding Region or Branch name. Finally, if you have multiple Reporting Entities and all of your data is in one file with Entity codes, the system will load the individual Reporting Entity’s data on import.
Enhanced List View Functionality
In 6.0 it was called the Data Grid and now in 7.0 it will be referred to as the List View. In the new List View, you can set up multiple views of your data and store them as definitions. You still can’t key in new applications to the list view but you can edit apps and delete multiple applications using multi-select. One of the coolest new List View features is the ability to include or exclude multi-selected records from a filter set. Additionally, you can now show code values or hide them and you can also make global changes from the List View. In version 6.xx you could only make global changes from the Application View.
Filters
Many of you requested the ability to create filters using ANDs and ORs in the same filter to create much more complex filtering. This functionality has now been added and you can even use parenthesis (if needed) around the groupings to make the logic act correctly. We have also added a Field Values option, where you can get a list of the values, counts and dollars in a particular field and, if you want, click on a value to filter down to that subset of applications. This type of filtering will ADD to your existing filter.
Auto-Updates
One of the biggest requests that we had over the last few years was to make the Geocoding and system data updates more seamless. With 7.0 we now have an Auto-Update process that will automatically transfer Geocode files to and from our server so that you don’t have to manually upload and download the files anymore. For institutions that may have firewall issues, this process can still be done manually. System Data such as Treasury Rate Tables, Demographic Data updates, etc… will also automatically be pulled to your system and a user can simply click ‘Install’ to update the system data.
New Start Page
There is a new Start page in 7.0 that will show the users current RATA News, regulatory news updates, critical update information and more. This page will also have resource documents, helpful tips and a record of the most recent system updates.
The performance of the entire Comply system was analyzed by our programming team and enhancements were made in many areas. Although there were many areas affected by these improvements, the following are the most significant.
Importing
Importing speed had been an issue for some of the larger-volume clients over the past few years. We took a look at the process and we were able to trim it quite a bit to make it much more efficient. Based on tests performed, we are seeing about a 500% improvement. Files that were taking 25 minutes to load under the 6.xx platform are loading in about 5 minutes under the 7.xx platform. We do a lot of checks and balances during the import to make the process safer and unfortunately those steps take time.
Duplicate Records Handling
Another user-requested change was the duplicate record handling. The 6.xx system tried to eliminate duplicates during the import. A lot of clients told us that they would prefer to bring in duplicate applications and resolve them within the system, rather than during the import. So now in 7.0 that is the way it works; bring in the dupes, run the dupe check feature then have someone fix them in Comply.
Edit Checking
The Edit Checking engine in Comply 7.0 has also been enormously boosted. The Edit Check speed has been found to be about 10 times faster than the 6.xx system. In addition, you can now Edit Check filtered subsets of applications, if you are so inclined. In the 6.xx system we had an edit check status flag for Partial and Full Edit-Checked records; in 7.0 we have added a third flag for Submission-checked. This additional flag will ensure that, if you have to rerun the submission for any reason, the records will not have to be re-Edit Checked, unless a change was made to a record, and even then it will just Edit Check the changed record(s).
Mapping
Last but not least for the major performance enhancements is the Mapping component. We have trimmed down the Layer Data and optimized the way we render the maps. This has had a significant overall effect on the map rendering time, again about 10 times faster now in 7.0. In addition to the speed enhancements, creating maps is also much easier in Comply 7.0. There is more flexibility to customize the map themes, lines, labels, fonts, etc., and the resolutions and crispness of the map is much better.
Having great software is the first step toward a successful compliance program. Knowing how to properly utilize that software tool is the next. RATA now offers three options for training, and we highly recommend that you take advantage of at least one form of training over the next couple of months.
This year, as you may have heard, RATA will not be holding our annual users conference. Because of budgetary restraints in the industry, it was difficult planning the conference this year. However, with the release of the new Comply 7 products, we felt that it was important to give customers a personal, hands-on and cost-effective option to get trained on the Comply software. We are now offering “Live” training at our offices for anyone who wants to learn how to maximize the use of our Comply software. The training sessions will run about 1 day for HMDA, CRA and Mapping. We will also offer a 1 and a ½ day option that will include Fair Lending. These training classes will be offered every two weeks through December. A schedule will be available on our website next week. The classes can handle up to 8 people and will be offered on a first-come-first-served basis. If an institution sends 4 or more people to be trained, we can make that a private training session.
|
Live Training - At RATA |
1 Person |
2 Persons |
3 Persons |
4 Persons |
5th - 7th Person |
8 Persons |
|
1 Day: HMDA/CRA/Mapping |
$495.00 |
$795.00 |
$995.00 |
$1,195.00 |
$100.00 each |
$1,595.00 |
|
1 1/2 Days: HMDA/CRA/Mapping/ Fair Lending |
$595.00 |
$895.00 |
$1,095.00 |
$1,295.00 |
$100.00 each |
$1,695.00 |
For customers that cannot join us for Live training, we also offer free Web-based training as well. This training utilizes GotoMeeting and can be customized to meet your specific needs. This training is also offered on a schedule, and you can sign up for this training on the website as well.
If you need a large group of users trained, a more cost-effective way to accomplish this might be to have RATA fly to your organization and train your personnel at your institution. This type of training has been very effective in the past and is a great option if you need to train a group on a budget. If you are interested in onsite training, please call our office for pricing.
Although training is not mandatory, we hope that you take advantage of at least one of our training alternatives. We think it is an investment that will pay immediate dividends!
In order to get Comply 7.0 into the majority of our customers’ hands quickly, we decided to push a couple of the features back in our schedule. These features are still important to our customers who use them and they will be available in early November.
The submission module is our top priority. We have analyzed the submission process and have found a few ways to improve the methodology, speed up the process and make it safer overall. Since you will not need submission capabilities until March 1, 2009 for your 2008 data, we held this module back. If you need to create a submission file, you can always create a submission export at any time.
Fair Lending users will need to continue using the Comply 6.xx system until the 7.1 system is released. Getting this functionality ported over to the 7.0 system is a little more time consuming and we did not want to hold up all of the HMDA/CRA users to get this functionality into the 7.0 build. We apologize for any inconvenience to our Fair Lending clients, but we do have ways that you can utilize both systems without too much hardship during the transition.
This is new functionality that has been requested by our bank customers and will be ready in 7.1 as well. With this functionality, you will be able to import different account types- savings, checking, etc - then geocode the deposit accounts, map them and analyze them.
In addition to the components listed above, we have many miscellaneous details to add and tighten up. RATA’s attention to detail and Quality Assurance standards are very high and we are always looking for ways to improve the system. It is an ongoing process and time will only make the Comply system better, stronger and faster.
Once the Comply foundation is completed, which includes the 7.0 and 7.1 updates, we will be able to start adding the “fun” new stuff. Although there have been and will be many smaller enhancements made to the core software, here are some of the bigger “optional” components that will be available for purchase in 2009. We are breaking these additional features out as optional components to help keep the cost of the software down for the “vanilla” users.
Auto-PilotThe big changes for the Comply 8.0 release in October of 2009 will focus on Analysis and Web-versions of the RATA Comply software.
Analysis, Analysis, Analysis…
We will be having many discussions with our larger analysis users over the next few months to try and determine what you really need to perform analytic functions with Comply as well as researching the best and most flexible way to meet those needs. The end result will be some kind of Custom Report Module (CRM) that will be user-friendly, fast and powerful!
iComply
Another thing we would like to have ready for 8.0 is a web version of Comply. This version can be used by large institutions to spread the workload around or could also be used by small institutions that do not want to host their own data.
So there you have it! As you can see, we have a pretty aggressive development schedule, because we want to make sure that Comply remains the premier lending compliance tool on the market. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact us and share them with us at any time.