LLL had the pleasure of visiting with Briana Ings, Head of Product and Design for Snapdocs.

The shift from end-to-end technology to point technology solutions.

Briana told us that she’s seen a lot of progress in the mortgage and title industry in the past five years in terms of updating, implementing and embracing new and better technology. Specifically, she applauded the industry for turning its focus from “end-to-end-solutions” to “point technology solutions,” or specific systems that solve specific problems such as the automation of underwriting or point of sale (POS)/loan origination systems (LOS).

Why end-to-end rarely succeeds

Briana observed that many of the challenges in our industry are nuanced because of various and complex requirements imposed at the federal and state regulatory level as well as by other participants in the transaction. While most “end-to-end” labelled solutions tend to be developed by and for a very specific set of participants (e.g. a lender who has purchased a captive title company), the fact remains that broad-stroke solutions can fail to reach the depth of expertise or nuance necessary to truly solve every challenge.

A continued need for transparency

Briana also mentioned that, while industry technology has come quite a long way recently, it’s still got room for improvement when it comes to transparency of process among the various participants in the transaction. In other words, lenders still don’t often have a great view of where a title company is with the file, nor do title agencies when it comes to lender doc prep. In fact, Briana lamented the fact that we still have “lots of PDFs with lots of instructions” being emailed among participants.

Part of that long standing hesitance to embrace new technology has come from the fact that many companies have built a workflow that processes hundreds of transactions (or more) a month in a compliant fashion. In a world where change means uncertainty, and the risk of having operations struggle to fulfill demand, it’s been a battle to get decision-makers to take the risk of using newer solutions. However, Briana celebrated the fact that adoption is happening, and enjoys watching “the most hesitant become technology champions.”

Above and beyond business as usual—Girls Who Code

We talked with Briana about her involvement with the non-profit organization Girls Who Code, which provides instruction and mentorship for middle-school and high-school aged girls with an interest in building technology. Briana and Snapdocs feel that, in order to make the traditionally male-dominated profession of tech development and code writing more accessible to young women, the women in the field can make an impact by providing opportunity and offering examples of professionals who look like them as they enter and learn the craft. 

Finally, Briana told us that her ultimate motivation every day is the opportunity to help make a difference in making the American Dream less stressful, more transparent and less expensive for more people through the technology she helps to create.