Sterling Bancshares, Inc. is a Houston-based bank holding company with total assets of $3.8 billion which operates 45 banking centers in the greater metro areas of Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, Texas. Sterling turned to Hyperion to help it streamline its financial reporting operations, which have grown increasingly complex since the organization went public in 1992.

Sterling Bancshares is using its Hyperion solution as part of an overall initiative to tighten internal control over its financial reporting, help ensure data integrity and decrease the time it spends on data gathering so the finance group can better focus on analysis and operational results.

The Hyperion solution has enabled the bank to decrease its reliance on spreadsheets, while providing enhanced analytical capability and improved speed and accuracy in its financial reporting functions.

"With a spreadsheet driven process, we were spending as much as 80 percent of our financial reporting efforts in preparation time," said Stephen Raffaele, CFO of Sterling Bancshares. "We wanted to be more proactive in our approach and spend more time on analysis and projections. The new solution has made that possible."

Initially the company brought financial data directly into the Hyperion analytics platform to be made available anywhere management reporting and key elements of financial disclosure were needed. The new solution enabled the organization to automate the process, producing balance sheets, income statements and other financial reports efficiently and accurately. Recently, the company began using Hyperion dashboards as well and has benefited from real time reporting of its financial condition at both a consolidated and unit level.

Having successfully deployed the solution in the accounting, treasury and finance departments, the bank plans to expand use of its Hyperion solution to other key operating units.

The next step for Sterling Bancshares is the implementation of its financial data warehouse and Hyperion System 9. "We are really looking forward to facilitating the bank's growth through better insights into performance, risk and efficiency," said Raffaele.