First Tech Federal Credit Union is investing in its virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to enhance the security and configurability of its workflow systems while employees work from home.

The technology hosts desktop environments on a single server, so companies can mainstream applications, and employees can share documents quickly and efficiently. The Palo-Alto, Calif.-based credit union ranks as the 21st most innovative financial institution in the U.S. among Bank Automation News’ FI Innovation Rankings for lenders with $10 billion to $100 billion of assets.

With nearly three-quarters of First Tech’s 1,500-person staff working remotely over the company’s secure VPN, the $13.8 billion credit union is funneling more money into the VDI program, which launched last year, said Michael Upton, chief technology and digital officer. He declined to specify how much First Tech is budgeting for the program, but noted the investment will include integrating Microsoft Suite into the VDI this year.

Upton told BAN that the VDI “adds extra layers of security as well as extra layers of performance.” The system is customizable on the employee end, he added, and the company is able to control permissions within the system.

The company plans to bring its corporate employees back to the office in early September, dependent on news of COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, Upton added.

VDIs are beneficial both in the security and hardware optimization of company technology. Since a VDI system often keeps all transactions in the cloud, employee devices are not bogged down by unnecessary files, according to business software review site TrustRadius.com.

“VDI has been around for a while,” Upton said. “But, it’s really been up in production, oftentimes in larger, multinational companies because it also solves global connectivity problems. For us, it really is that next level of support for remote work.”

Some of the most popular VDI systems include Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Services, Nutanix AOS, Parallels RAS and Oracle VDI, according to TrustRadius.

Meanwhile, First Tech is looking to challenge the narrative of fintechs versus financial institutions, Upton said, adding that the relationship between both parties can be fluent. As part of its competition model, the credit union is focused on enhancing its API systems through its fintech partnerships, but declined to name specifics. The idea is to extend “the value of the credit union through new channels to reach new members, and making it even easier for existing members,” Upton said.

In December 2018, the credit union introduced Avoka — a Temenos product — to its platform, which automates and expedites account opening. Peer-to-peer money movement has also been extremely effective for the credit union, Upton said, resulting in overall net positive cash influx in 2020, and more money flowing into the financial institution than sent externally to other FIs.

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