Jason DeKock

Mandan, N.D., May 31, 2017 — Regardless of your business reach – local, international or somewhere in between – the reality of cyberattacks affecting your organization is not only possible but probable. In response to the growing and ever-evolving threat, National Information Solutions Cooperative® has launched Cybersecurity Services to help independent telephone companies, electric cooperatives and other public power entities defend themselves against ever-present threats. "Cyberattacks are increasing in frequency and complexity," said Jeff Nelson, NISC Vice President of Information Security & Risk Management. "It's an everyday risk companies can no longer ignore. Our Members asked us for a solution to meet the industry's ever-evolving list of cybersecurity needs. To this end, NISC Cybersecurity Services leverages what we ourselves have learned from implementing our own cybersecurity tools and puts these resources directly in our Members' hands." NISC Cybersecurity Services offers of a complement of solutions to protect vital operational data: NISC CyberAcademy – Online user awareness training and phishing simulation NISC CyberDetect – Incident detection and incident response (currently in beta testing) NISC CyberProtect – Endpoint protection with 24/7 monitoring NISC CyberDefense – Perimeter defense leveraging firewalls and report monitoring NISC CyberScan – Vulnerability management with advanced scanning, reporting, tracking and risk scoring "NISC Cybersecurity Services takes a multi-tiered approach in addressing a company's security needs," said Nelson. "It doesn't matter whether it is perimeter defense, endpoint protection and monitoring, end-user training, or vulnerability management. Cybersecurity now involves all facets of an organization, and we are excited about what this offering can do to meet our Members' needs." NISC's Cybersecurity Services can help you protect your organization. Visit www.cybersecurity.coop or call 1.866.999.6472 today to learn more. About NISC National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) is an [...]

Members Can Utilize SmartHub® End-Consumer App with SBS Integration for Electronic Voting St. Louis, Mo., December 8, 2016 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of technology solutions to utility and telecommunications organizations worldwide, announces seamless customer integration with Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS), a leading provider of election services to Member organizations. "The integration with SBS is a prime example of integrating technology for the betterment of engaging members with their cooperatives," said Nate Boettcher, NISC's Utility Solutions Product Line Manager. Cooperatives that utilize both SBS and NISC solutions will now have the ability to provide their Members an easy way to promote their Board elections. Those Members will be able to log into SmartHub and cast their Member vote alongside making a payment or viewing their usage. "We're excited to be partnering with NISC, an organization we consider to be truly innovative. This is a wonderful opportunity for SBS to help NISC Members improve their elections with secure and easy voting," said Peter Westerhaus, Vice President of SBS. A testament to the success of this integration, Tri-County Electric Cooperative (TEC), located in Rushford, Minn., and Hawkeye Electric Cooperative located in Cresco, Iowa, recently held an election with their Members on a merger vote. "Our successful merger vote can be directly attributed to our cooperative’s communications plan and the new partnership with Survey & Ballot Systems and NISC that allowed fast, easy, electronic and paper balloting to our individual cooperative memberships," said Brian Krambeer, President and CEO of the new MiEnergy Cooperative. "We achieved over 60 percent member participation in our vote through using this exciting new format." Krambeer added that Members liked the electronic voting. According to SBS survey data, following [...]

Mandan, N.D., August 30, 2016 — For the third consecutive year, National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) has been recognized by Prairie Business magazine as one of the 50 Best Places to Work in the northern plains. Companies were nominated through an anonymous employee survey that outlined work environment, employee benefits and employee happiness. Consideration was also given to the number of nominations received per company. The 50 businesses have been honored in the magazine’s September issue, which is available on www.prairiebusinessmagazine.com.   “Employees in the companies nominated for this list wait eagerly to find out if their workplace has been chosen,” says Lisa Gibson, editor of Prairie Business. “It’s a point of pride for our winners because being nominated as a great place to work by actual employees on all levels of hierarchy is a testament to really being a great company. You can’t claim to be a great place to work unless the employees who actually work for you agree.”   Now in the third year of conducting the Best Places to Work contest, Prairie Business received nearly 950 surveys. “We’re happy to present this year’s winners and offer our congratulations to them all,” Gibson says. “This award is an honor for NISC. Not only because of the acknowledgment from Prairie Business but also because the nomination itself came from our staff. We operate our IT cooperative based off six shared values, values that guide how we conduct our business. Getting this honor for the third consecutive year is an affirmation of those shared values we have in place to help make this organization successful and our employees feel appreciated and empowered,” said Kari Reichert, NISC Vice President of People Services. About Prairie Business magazine: [...]

St. Louis, Mo., October 14, 2015 — Belmont Municipal Light Department (Belmont Light), headquartered in Belmont, MA., recently selected National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) as its primary integrated software solutions provider for their billing and accounting operations. Belmont Light’s objective was to replace their current system with fully-integrated customer service, billing, accounting and business solutions. They were also looking for a partner with a proven record of providing successful software implementations to make the transition as smooth as possible, allowing no interruption in service to their customers. “In searching a new billing and accounting system, we wanted something that Belmont Light could rely on for years to come. We are confident that we found this in NISC,” said Maria Makar-Limanov, Finance Manager at Belmont Light. “NISC’s user-friendly, integrated system will fulfill our electric and water billing needs, while also providing innovative data and document storage solutions, customizable functions and reliable customer service.” “Belmont Light was not just looking for a highly effective software solution, but also looking for an IT partner,” said Vern Dosch, NISC President and CEO. “Now that Belmont Light is part of the NISC cooperative family, we will be able to offer them the partnership they need not just during the implementation, but throughout our long term relationship.” About Belmont Belmont Light is a municipally owned electric utility that serves the Town of Belmont, a suburban community located in heart of the Greater Boston, MA Metropolitan Area.  The mission of Belmont Light is to deliver safe, reliable electric power service to the community of Belmont by embracing new technology and providing superior customer service.  Today, Belmont Light provides superior service and reliability to approximately 11,200 electric residential, commercial and municipal customers, and [...]

St. Louis, Mo., October 1, 2015 — National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), a leading provider of technology solutions to utility and telecommunications organizations worldwide, hosted its annual Member Information Conference (MIC) in St. Louis, Mo. More than 2,500 users of the NISC iVUE enterprise software attended the event, which was hosted over two weeks, September 23-25 & 28-30. The IT cooperative’s annual event draws users from all over the continental U.S., Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, American Samoa and Palau. “Being an IT cooperative, we are owned by the users of our software. The collaboration between electric cooperatives, independent telecoms and municipalities can be powerful. They each have their challenges in their respective industries, but, working together, we can create solutions that help make them more efficient and competitive,” said Jasper Schneider, NISC Vice President of Member Engagement. The MIC is NISC’s premier learning event with almost 150 learning sessions ranging from Accounting to Billing to Engineering. Special interactive general sessions hosted by the NISC Executive Team were also offered, focusing on industry trends and challenges and how to increase operational efficiencies and reduce costs. “Each year we host the Member Information Conference, and each year I am completely taken aback at the incredibly powerful response from our Membership. They are so eager to join us, share with us, learn with us and support one another. The MIC is a learning event for both the users of NISC’s software…But also for NISC itself,” said Vern Dosch, NISC President and CEO. “We were pleased to show our Members, Customers and guests new software and processes that will help them work more efficiently and connect at a higher level with their customers.” NISC once again created an app for [...]