Midland States Bank Case Study
How Midland States Bank streamlined their risk management framework with STREAM®.
Midland States Bank (MSB) is an Illinois-based $4.5 billion financial services company that is one of the state's largest banks outside of Chicago. The bank uses Acuity's STREAM® to manage compliance with the COSO 2013 framework, which provides guidance in the areas of risk and control, significantly enhancing corporate governance and enterprise risk management.
“It was easy to install and implement, as a result I was able to get started in a matter of days, unlike other solutions.”
The story in four lines
Customer
Midland States Bank
Use Case
COSO 2013 compliance, ERM framework, audit tracking, operational events
What Changed
Replaced spreadsheet-based tools with a centralised GRC platform deployed in days
Outcomes
IPO-ready internal controls, reports generated in minutes vs days, expanded to dozens of users
Read this interview with James Stewart, Chief Risk Officer at Midland States Bank, to learn more about how they implemented STREAM® to manage their governance, risk, and compliance needs.
The Challenge
"I looked for a cost-effective Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) solution which I could deploy quickly and easily to replace our spreadsheet-based tools. We aspired to list our shares on an exchange, so we had to focus first on our internal control framework.
Excel is a powerful tool, but it can be proliferated, created, altered, and deleted easily. With multiple versions of the same document, it can easily get out of hand and become inefficient in a short space of time, which is why I decided to look for new ways of managing internal controls governance."
Solution Selection Process
How did you find out about STREAM®?
"Browsing online I found STREAM® and I was able to immediately download the single-user version. It was easy to install and implement. As a result I was able to get started in a matter of days, unlike other solutions which I found can take weeks and even years."
In particular, what was it about STREAM® that made it your chosen solution?
"Using the trial edition, I was able to build an entire framework, which provided me with a compelling business case for senior management. Additionally, STREAM® is highly configurable, quick and easy to deploy, very intuitive, easy to use and fairly priced."
Benefits and Results
How would you summarise the benefits to the bank from its investment in STREAM®?
"Well, several things come to mind. With the introduction of Version 5, the system is extremely configurable, and reporting tools very flexible. In some instances, we are able to pull together data across all products and generate reports in minutes, when it previously required days of effort. Also, the system provides the ability to quickly build 'virtual views' of the Company's ERM framework. Hence, I have the capability to put forward a top-level view that masks various features that would otherwise confuse users."
"Thirdly, system response time is impressive – there is no latency, which has impressed our users who have experience with other GRC platforms. Finally, having the lion's share of our ERM framework on my desktop garners a lot of favourable comments from external stakeholders. That benefit isn't unique to STREAM® but, then again, we configured and rolled out the system for a fraction of what others typically spend – that is unique!"
“Version 5 was a complete game changer. We are now able to configure customised fields to meet our requirements. This drives a big part of our customer satisfaction.”
Evolution and Expansion
How did your use of STREAM® evolve over time?
"Prior to our initial public offering, we had built a comprehensive internal control framework that was COSO compliant, and were ready to roll the system out with the help of the Acuity team. From time to time, we refer to Acuity's online training, which is quite good, but I've mostly learned about STREAM® by being hands-on. I am able to do really complex configuration with little assistance. For me, this is essential as I like to have control of framework development."
"Our use for STREAM® has since greatly expanded. As well as the control framework, we now also use STREAM® to manage our risk framework, tracking audit findings and logging operational events. We currently have several dozen users, who have become familiar with the software quite quickly, including business owners, auditors and risk managers."
"It gives really good, straightforward, basic explanations which is just what you need. It's an idiot-proof guide in a format that really encourages learning. I find the content really informative especially as we don't have an expert within the company."
Support Experience
"We have only needed to contact Acuity's support team a handful of times over the years but they have always been highly responsive and approachable. I appreciate the fact that Acuity have their own experts who are able to provide excellent advice. When I had a question about creating and deleting controls in STREAM®, a member of the Acuity team was able to guide me through the process, explaining what happens and why. This was valuable as it helped my understanding."
"On another occasion, we had an access issue which was resolved and restored within the hour. Again, this was really helpful."
Future Plans
"In the near future, we are looking to expand our use of STREAM® with the most immediate priority being GDPR."
“We needed a solution which was easy to use, easy to install, affordable and had an element of support included.”
QUICK AND EASY DEPLOYMENT
EASY TO USE
FAIRLY PRICED
CUSTOMISABLE
VERY INTUITIVE
Build your ERM framework in days, not months
If you're looking for a cost-effective GRC solution that's quick to deploy, easy to configure, and scales with your organisation, STREAM® can help you achieve compliance faster.
Acuity Risk Management helps businesses worldwide effectively manage, prioritise and report on their risks to inform strategic decision-making and build long-term resilience.
Its powerful STREAM® platform provides rapid time to value to reassure stakeholders that risks are under control and compliance is maintained with increasingly complex standards and regulations. With STREAM®, Acuity eliminates the guesswork around risk to support strategic decision-making, prioritisation of resources and justification of expenditure to maximise ROI. With customers worldwide, Acuity has proven success supporting customers in highly regulated and targeted industries such as finance, IT, telecommunications, healthcare, defence and government.