Jeff Johnson has spent the past 15 years helping his creditunion and the industry itself compete in the fast-changing world ofdelivery of financial services.

His co-workers and peers say he has helped set new standards forbringing together technology and member service, figuratively andnow literally. Johnson is the senior vice president and chiefinformation officer at the $1.6 billion Baxter Credit Union in Vernon Hills, Ill.

A Lawrence University graduate with a degree in economics,Johnson arrived at BCU in 1997 and since then has made a sharpimpression on his colleagues, who have seen him tear down silos andcross boundaries to help create a credit union known for itsability to develop and roll out member-facing technology whileboosting internal efficiencies.

“Since joining BCU, Jeff has been the driving force behind numerous notableinitiatives,” his nomination letter from BCU peers said. “He hasproven leadership skills and is immensely respected across allfunctions in the organization. His team of more than 24 ITprofessionals, many with tenure of 10-plus years, works tirelesslyto carry out Jeff's vision for maximizing operating efficienciesand maintaining strict cost controls.”

They have plenty to do. “When I started in '97, the main remotedelivery channels were IVR (interactive voice response) and ATM.Both were mature and proven platforms that hadn't changed much inthe past five years and weren't going to much in the next 10,”Johnson said. “Flash forward to 2012 and you have the Web, mobileWeb, mobile apps, Web-enabled desktops and Web- and app-enabledmobile devices, text/SMS and social media.

“Add to the mix the small screen of the smart phone, the 7-inchscreen of those emerging Android devices and the full-size tabletslike the iPad. The funny – and costly – thing is, none of thedelivery channels go away.”

Making processes and people work together has been a constant,though, and it's a particularly strong suit for Johnson, his BCUcolleagues said.

They list his accomplishments as:

• Working with a cross-discipline team to help putrisk management at the center of all new process implementationsand daily operations.

• Customizing infrastructure that empowers BCU tooffer multiple brands and languages to support both its large SEGsponsors and Spanish-speaking members. “This helps provide asignificant strategic advantage for attracting new businessopportunities,” Johnson's nominating letter said.

• A flexible staffing model that allows IT to rapidlygrow or shrink its staff to meet changing needs.

• A partnership with human resources and local highschools to provide internships that typically last through college,benefiting the students and BCU alike.

• Virtualizing the network environment from datacenter to desktop, including cloud technology.

• Deploying a data warehouse/business intelligenceinfrastructure that ensures everyone across the organization has adetailed understanding of each other's operations.

• Building a “robust, extensive and expandable”middleware infrastructure using .net tools, providing new levels ofback-end integration and “a unified experience for members.”

As for Johnson, asked to name his biggest challenge, he said,“The need for IT to focus on the end game. That is, serving themember. Technology is a means. This requires us to have a flexiblestaffing model which can readily expand and contract, theinfrastructure must be extendable, and there must be consistent andtargeted execution on the spectrum of demands from support ticketsto complex projects.”

Among the most complex of those projects has been the creationof CUFX, an acronym for Credit Union Financial Standards. It's aneffort that Johnson and his fellow members of the CUNA TechnologyCouncil are devoting considerable time and energy to seeing come tofruition.

The CUFX project is seen as an answer to the need to integratebusiness and technology requirements specific to the world ofcredit unions. Its history traces to the beginnings of softwarethat, among other things, made the Internet a business tool.

Middleware to connect multiple platforms first emerged, as didwell-known standards such as XML (the standard for much of theearly integration) and then OFX (standardized specs for thefinancial industry to use to, for instance, download online bankingtransactions into Quicken.)

Now, here comes CUFX. As Johnson describes it, CUFX is a set ofindustry specifications that will increase the speed of delivery ofnew business functions, simplify integration and reduce the cost ofvendor-provided and credit union-created offerings. That will allowthe industry to spend more time focusing on value-added issuesrather than back-office integration, and allow them to more quicklyadopt technologies.

Tech-savvy credit unions have long been building their ownsolutions, but, Johnson said, now is the time to bring themtogether and work with vendors so that back-end systems speak thesame language and the wheel doesn't have to be re-invented eachtime a new channel or service comes along.

“We as an industry spend far too much time and capital managingredundant systems integration, taking valuable time and resourcesaway from efforts to quickly launch innovative solutions anddeliver a seamless member experience across delivery channels,”Johnson said. “In order for credit unions to meet the increasingexpectations from members and effectively compete against the largefinancial institutions, our industry needs to establish this set ofstandards.”

The CUNA Technology Council formally began the project lastAugust. The first areas of focus are personal financial managementand mobile payments, and Johnson's own BCU will be among the firstto use CUFX. But it won't be alone.

“The response and support has been awesome,” Johnson said. “Wehave had numerous volunteers developing specifications and a longlist of people wanting to contribute. Everybody who hears aboutCUFX seems to 'get it.'”

That includes what many figured would be the toughest nut tocrack: the vendors, including core processors, who serve theindustry and have a financial stake in protecting their technicalturf. So far, so good, participants said, including one veteranmiddleware specialist.

“In short order, Jeff has accomplished much more than I thoughtwould be possible,” said Brian Bodell, CEO of Finivation Softwarein New York, who cut his teeth creating one of the first middlewarefirms in the credit union space, qbt Software.

“He has pulled in advocates from both the credit unions and thevendor community, including from several core processors that Ithought would be absolutely against the concept,” Bodell said. Healso credited Johnson with planning the project on both businessand technical levels, including software architecture, and settingup the standards development process.

“In my opinion, the credit union movement is far too complacentand needs more leaders like Jeff to effect positive change in themidst of economic malaise,” Bodell said. “Efforts like CUFX canmake a real difference, but without Jeff continuing to advocate,motivate and push, credit unions won't be able to innovate at thepace the modern consumer demands.”

Johnson shares that concern and expects nothing less.

“One of the biggest advantages credit unions have is meaningfulcollaboration on an industry level,” he said. “Collaboration is inour DNA. My friends at banks do not have that benefit. If I were ata bank, I would have neither the perspective nor theopportunities.”

He added, “I firmly believe this country needs an alternative tolarge financial institutions, and credit unions are thatalternative. If we don't make bold moves like CUFX we could miss agreat opportunity.”

Johnson added that the human element has been a particularpleasure in the creation of the new software standard for creditunions.

“I have gotten to know some wonderfully competent, intelligentand ambitious people,” he said.

The feeling is mutual.

“I'm very impressed with Jeff's large-scale initiative ofcreating standards for the credit union industry,” said last year'sIT Executive of the Year Trailblazer award winner, HeatherMoshier.

“He's a very passionate person who believes in changing thecredit union industry for the better and has dedicated numeroushours and obtained support from various credit union vendors to(help move) CUFX forward,” said Moshier, executive vice presidentat the $5.5 billion San Diego County Credit Union and chair of theCUNA Technology Council.

Johnson's efforts to help the industry extend beyond CUFX,Moshier said, pointing to his chairing of a regional roundtable forCIOs that included networking opportunities at host BCU. He also isactive with advisory boards for Symitar, PSCU Financial Services,Wescom Resources Group and OpCon/SMA, as well as the CUNATechnology Council.

“As part of his oversight on the Technology Committee, Jeff ledthe initiative to create an app for the CUNA Technology Council,which will be deployed to all the CUNA councils in 2012,” Moshiersaid. With his passion and positive attitude, I know we'll bereading about his technology initiatives for years to come.”