Like any other industry, the credit counseling – debt management business is subject to constant changes. In the last several years, there is no aspect of this industry that hasn’t changed; everything from the counseling session to the services that are offered to the public, from the way payments are collected from clients and disbursed to creditors, from concession rules to fair share requirements, nothing has stayed constant. Top executives know that their agency’s IT infrastructure is in a constant state of trans-formation and expansion and MUST be able to respond to new conditions and demands.

The industry’s existing legacy technology platforms are not easily adapted to changes. Often times an agency is forced to wait for their vendors to provide updates to meet a new, often critical, business need. When an update was finally provided, it meant having to take down the enterprise to deploy the update, interrupting the workflow. Remote access to legacy systems has also been proven to be problematic, complicated and expensive; often resulting in cumbersome networks and higher IT costs. A straightforward, reliable and inexpensive solution has been lacking in the current legacy systems based on older technology. The key to solving these enigmas was to find a solution that moved at the same speed as new technology, universal in design so that it may be supported by anyone, easily accessible and flexible enough for an agency to add services quickly. Thus, Springboard took the leap to build their own n-tier, browser based debt management platform.

Currently there are two prevailing architectural concepts in place for application design: two-tier and N-tier. Neither is a product or a standard, but rather a strategic concept on how to logically construct and deploy an adaptable distributed computer system.

A two-tier system is comprised of two main components: the client and the server. The client contains the user interface (where data is input) and the business logic, which is where data is processed. The client in a two-tier software structure is often referred to as a “thick” or “rich” client because of all that it often encompasses, the user interface and the business logic. The server is the component that stores the processed data. Often times the business logic is distributed between the client and server.

A two-tier architected application requires high-end desktop computers to handle the intensive data processing. Substantial loads are placed on the network of a two-tier application due to the constant interaction between clients and the server. Network strain of two-tier applications makes it expensive, if not impossible to deploy the application to remote locations. Incremental and stable scalability is limited due to the meshed nature of a two-tier application. When usage exceeds capacity, the entire system may need to be replaced.

In contrast, an N-tier (N meaning any number of tiers or components) structured application modularizes functionality. N-tier architected systems are made up of three or more main independent components: the user interface, the business logic and the data management. The user interface and the business logic (or data processing) are independent of each other unlike the two-tier system.

An example of the N-tier structure is our modern day cable television systems. The user or cable subscriber sits at the television deciding to watch a pay-per-view event. To enable this the user would use the remote control to send a signal from the cable box (User Interface) to the cable company. Here the cable company’s servers (Business Logic) would confirm the order, authenticate the cost of the event, and initiate transmission of the service. At the same time it would record the service to the clients record (Database). Since all these events are initiated from a universal interface, a television and standard cable box, it is easy for the cable company to add or remove channels from their menu without disturbing the user. They can also upgrade the speed of their system, optimize back end hardware without interruption of service to the client.

This modularized approach allows for updates to be done centrally rather than across the enterprise. Single components of the N-tier system can be freely modified or exchanged for other components when updates are necessary.

Many enterprise applications now use a simple HTML based browser (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator) as a universal “thin-client” interface. N-tier architected software often takes advantage of this free, easily obtained and self maintainable tool to use a its user interface. HTML based browsers are universal and simple; every computer with Microsoft Windows has a HTML browser already installed!

The benefits of implementing an adaptable N-Tier architecture are both numerous and compelling.

• You want your counseling agency to be efficient. First and foremost, IT costs are drastically reduced because it takes fewer IT staff to implement, deploy, and administer this platform. A lot of this has to do with the reduction in time spent administering software on the individual PCs all through your agency. For example, in the commonly used 2-tier environment, when Windows comes out with an upgrade, it has to be loaded onto all the pc’s in your agency, creating downtime on the frontline and extra cost for IT staff to do all this work (most of it low level busy work). People costs are the continuing sinkhole for legacy, non-internet based systems.

• Internet technologies simply offer greater flexibility, interoperability, and scalability at far lower costs.

A year ago Springboard contracted with Integrant Inc., a southern California financial applications developer, and working together, a vision for the next-generation debt management solution was born. Based on Integrant’s DebtLogic product, SpringNet is a software application that provides a completely integrated solution incorporating all aspects of the client debt management life cycle. Built from the ground up as an n-tier, browser-based solution, SpringNet starts with the client’s first call by providing call-center scripts and collects client need demographics. The flexible Contact Module supports face-to-face appointments as well as phone appointments and schedules the best counselor based on the needs of the client (e.g., Spanish-speaking). The Counseling Module enables counselors to rapidly capture the client’s personal and financial information to produce a budget and determine if a Debt Management Plan is the best course of action, as well as prompting for other counseling needs or opportunities. The DMP Module provides the counselor with the ability to quickly and accurately establish a Debt Management Plan optimized to the client’s financial situation.

The creditor policy matrix is fully integrated, enabling the counselor to quickly know what concessions the creditor will give. If necessary, SpringNet has a HUD-compliant Housing Module to address housing issues the client may have and that provides the interface for collecting necessary data for HUD reporting.

One of the best features is that the client may make DMP payments as often as weekly - around their pay schedule. This improves retention!

To our knowledge, all of the systems currently deployed in the credit counseling industry are “welded” platforms. Because SpringNet is based on a browser platform, a change can be made to one module without affecting any of the other modules - like “Legos”. And since the processes are streamlined within each component, it is faster and more efficient than other systems on the market today.