NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, Texas — Cypress Software Systems has named a new key executive and announced a new alliance with a small business credit risk specialist.

Allan Fried has been named the company's vice president of product management, responsible for product roadmap and software release processes and quality assurance. A 25-year veteran of financial services and product management leadership roles, he was assistant vice president of product management at Equifax Information Services in Atlanta and also has worked at Appro Systems, Alltel Information Services and Georgia Federal Bank.

Cypress Software Systems says it also has partnered with Asch Advisory Services of Petaluma, Calif., to develop small business credit origination scoring systems for integration in Cypress' Bureau Interpretation and Scoring Engine (BISE.) BISE is part of the company's BizMark small business loan-decisioning software used by credit unions, community and regional banks to process consumer small commercial loan applications.