As we wrap up 2015, it's hard to believe that another yearhas passed, but with 2016 right around the corner, I'm actuallystarting to get excited. To me, a new year means a new beginning,and for some of us it also means resolutions. Many resolutions areset for personal reasons and empower people to be their bestselves, such as quitting smoking, eating healthier or becoming moreactive.

You've probably already guessed mine from my recent posts – it's to put my Fitbit to good use andget more steps in a day. But the New Year is also a great time forcredit unions to think about resolutions and goals they would liketo achieve within the next year.

I like to get an early start on my business plans by taking intoaccount what we've achieved over the last 12 months, where westruggled and any overarching trends that either helped us reachour goals or impeded progress.

Recently, I was hosting our financial services customers at ourend-user conference, CommunityLIVE, when our vice president ofdevelopment, Bill Filion, discussed an idea that affects everyorganization: Software sprawl.

It hit me that more financial organizations should set a goal tostop software sprawl. So what exactly is software sprawl and whyshould your 2016 goal be to stop it?

I define software sprawl as a dilemma an organization faces whenit manages too many software applications. Especially when theorganization has an ever-growing list of requests for new solutionscoming in, keeping it from properly controlling upgrades ormaintenance. Sometimes these organizations have so many solutions,they aren't even sure which ones are needed and which have, orshould, become obsolete.

Stopping the Madness Before it Gets Worse

The rate of technology adoption and emerging technologiescontinue to grow exponentially every year. And as everyorganization knows too well, there is an expanding list of newtechnologies your employees want and need to do their jobs moreeffectively and stay competitive. So what's the best way toimplement technology to meet the business' needs and keep your ISdepartment sane and happy?

Instead of taking the approach of looking into new solutions tosolve your business needs, look to see if one of your currentapplications is flexible enough to create new solutions that fillthat void. The best solutions are flexible and agile, and easilyintegrate your line of business systems to do more with less byconnecting the right people to the right information.

As many credit unions know, having the right information at theright time not only speeds processes, it ensures better memberservice. By building out the software you already have, likeenterprise content management, you'll be able to keep up with theincreasing compliance and transparency demands, which isanother factor forcing financial institutions to re-evaluate theirproduct offerings and software applications.

My best advice to prospects and customers suffering fromsoftware sprawl is to keep it simple. The more systems creditunions rely on, the more time consuming upgrades and maintenancebecome, and the more tedious it is for your IS department to figureout the best time to make updates without affecting the othersystems you rely on.

Technology is always evolving and it's imperative that creditunions embrace adaptable, flexible solutions that meet theirbusiness needs today and into the future, and easily integrate theminto core systems. That way their organization remains agile and isready and able to handle whatever the industry throws at them.

Michelle Shapiro is financial services marketing manager forHyland, creator of OnBase. She can be reached at 440-788-6803 [email protected].