For years, mortgage technology vendors have been telling their lender clients that the biggest risk in the origination process lies in the loss of important data and documents during the ‘handoffs’ between different software systems.
Their solution to this problem has been to build ‘all-in-one’ platforms that support the entire mortgage origination process from ‘end-to-end,’ typically by integrating multiple applications or systems on a common shared platform using the same source code. In so doing, vendors not only save themselves and their clients from the headache of integrating disparate systems made by different vendors, they also scoop up more market share by getting their clients to subscribe to more of their applications.
The problem with that approach, of course, is that it takes away any opportunity for a lender to use the standalone, ‘best of breed’ systems that it prefers – including legacy systems for which the lender has already made considerable investment. What's more, a lender may have to sacrifice certain features and capabilities offered through its existing systems in order to transition to the more ‘tightly-integrated’ all-in-one system.
So what's wrong with the idea of integrating existing systems on your own? Plenty of lenders have IT departments with staff that are capable of carrying out such integrations. It's really just a question as to how difficult, time consuming and costly those integrations will be, and whether the lender has the right network infrastructure in place.
For those lenders that are inclined to carry out integrations and system changes on their own – and for those that want greater control over the features and functionality delivered by way of their loan origination system (LOS) – Mortgage Machine Services (MMS) has announced that it will soon be offering the source code to its Mortgage Machine LOS to the entire mortgage industry.
By opening up the source code for its LOS, the company is essentially removing the barriers that prevent so many lenders from modifying their LOSs on their own.
Now, lenders using the Mortgage Machine LOS can make changes to it as needed – without the need run back to the vendor and without the need to purchase an expensive software development kit.
‘Lenders are no longer at the mercy of enhancement requests to obtain an origination platform that provides the functionality they desire,’ company owner Jeff Bode says in a release. ‘Mortgage Machine allows lenders to drive their own enhancement requests and be better poised to make changes with the flow of the industry, not to mention changing regulations, by working directly with the system's source code.
‘Competitive differentiation is the name of the game for mortgage bankers in 2015,’ Bode adds. ‘By offering its source code to lenders, we are empowering lenders to create an origination environment in their own image, one that puts them in total control of their systems to customize and refine as it makes sense for their unique organization.’
Bode points out that because lenders have greater control over the design of the system, that means they can also opt to have it hosted in the facility of their choice – including hosting it on their own.
‘Hosting your own software takes the 'landlord' out of the picture,’ Bode points out. ‘You can design the system around your existing workflow rather than changing your workflow each time your LOS gets updated.’
To make the most of the Mortgage Machine system, Bode encourages lenders to consider the resources at their disposal.
‘Undertaking total ownership of your LOS isn't to be considered lightly – you do have to have some infrastructure in place to handle a permanent project of this magnitude,’ he says. ‘However, even if a lender contracts out the programming of Mortgage Machine customizations, they still come out ahead because they are in control of the direction the system takes. LOS vendors design their systems for use by multiple clients, but Mortgage Machine is customized for your needs alone.’