Diligent Streamlines Tyler Technologies’ D&O Process

Tyler Technologies is the largest software company in North America focused solely on the public sector. A leading provider of end-to-end information management solutions and services for local governments, the company partners with clients to empower the public sector — cities, counties, schools and other government entities — to become more efficient, accessible and responsive to the needs of citizens. The client base includes more than 14,000 local government offices in 50 states, Canada, the Caribbean, the UK and other international locations. Tyler Technologies has been a Diligent Boards™ client since 2014. 

CHALLENGE

From financial accounting and property taxes to court case management and student information, Tyler Technologies develops, delivers and supports software solutions and services for the public sector to manage complex business functions. However, like any public company incorporated in the United States, it must meet stringent corporate governance standards. For nearly three years, Tyler Technologies has been using Diligent Boards. When CEO John S. Marr Jr. decided that the company needed an efficient, secure and faster way to produce Directors and Officers’ (D&O) questionnaires, he looked at other board portal vendors and, in 2015, chose to continue with Diligent and use its new, fully integrated D&O solution. The secure Diligent D&O module is an add-on to Diligent Boards and was built to simplify the creation and delivery of D&O questionnaires.

APPROACH

Once the decision was made, the important job of loading the questionnaires was given to Executive Assistant Anne Caffey. Caffey’s 18 years of employment at Tyler Technologies have given her unique insight into what needed to be done — entering data for nine board directors and four committee users, such as personal information, prefilled answers and much more. “I was able to prefill the questionnaires by using their answers from the year before,” said Caffey. “We required three separate questionnaires, so in the beginning, it was hard to figure out how to get each of them correctly loaded.” According to Caffey, even though she was trained in how to load the D&O module, questions would still emerge. “The persons on the Diligent customer success team were very helpful. I called them constantly with any little question, and they would immediately help me. Diligent support was incredible.”

RESULTS

“The Diligent D&O solution changed my life,” exclaimed Caffey. “I used to print everything and put it into three-ring binders; then I would FedEx it so they would have it in time to review before the board meeting.” Caffey said that the new D&O solution has simplified her workflow process, and one of the reasons is that the information is secured online and board members now have immediate access to it.

“This is our first year loading the D&O and sending it out to the directors. I think it’s gone fabulously,” Caffey remarked. “There isn’t all this costly paper to print out and the long wait for returned signatures through the mail.” Since the Diligent D&O solution allows board members to make their own changes, sign it and send it back online, the completion time has declined tremendously. “This part is huge! Before, if a change was needed, I would have to make it in the document, resend the new printed version back to them, wait for a signature and wait for them to send it back.”

The Diligent D&O module has made other steps of the approval process easier as well. Caffey says that if anybody needs to see a D&O, it’s obtainable online, making it easier to locate. “This saves time, it saves paper costs and it saves my working hours. I also think it’s a more professional way to present to your board,” she added.

Caffey says that the board members are also very happy with the new solution. “They love it! They like to be able to make their own changes, they like the part that is prefilled for them, and perhaps what they like the most is that after changing and reviewing, they just hit a ‘sign’ button and everything is done. No mailing required — it’s all on their iPads.”

There were no complaints after the implementation either, according to Caffey. In fact, she said that she had only received positive feedback for the simplified, easy-to-use Diligent D&O solution. Another feature she herself thought was especially great: the “submission manager.” “I really like this. It enables you to see at any given time who has opened their questionnaire and how far along they have gotten in filling it out. This way, you can send reminders via email if they haven’t finished it yet. That’s where I come in.”