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66 I N D U S T R Y I N S I G H T / M I C H A E L K I T T Y L E ese days, the focus on mortgage technology seems to be on the purchase side of the business. And why not? e Mortgage Bankers Association is predicting a steady increase in new mortgage originations in 2017 and 2018. And with an increase in originations, everyone seems to be focused on faster loan closings, online borrower portals, and "rocket" mortgages that compare buying a house to travel at supersonic speeds. But as purchase volumes increase, so will servicing volume. And in a post-2008 world, servicing mortgage loans has become more than simply a function of paying taxes and escrows. In fact, the servicing sector has experienced many new business challenges—challenges that involve everything from new regulations and data security to how consumers behave online and how they expect to be treated. e challenges impact all parties to the servicing environment— lenders, borrowers, investors, and third parties. To be sure, the key to solving these challenges from a technology standpoint is infrastructure, or the frame upon which everything is built. Building this infrastructure involves taking four critical steps. ey may not seem as glamorous as a ride in a rocket, but servicers that master them can be sure to manage loans with optimal efficiency from takeoff to payoff. SECURITY AS A STEPPING STONE Make no bones about it—security is the most important thing for servicing infrastructure. Borrower and investor information is sacred to the mortgage servicer, and the technology to keep that information secure is just as important, if not more, than the accuracy in reporting it. After all, if the mortgage industry can't guarantee that a customer's financial information is safe, it really doesn't matter how great the origination went. But security is vastly different than it was 10 years ago, when many companies housed large servers on site. Instead, there are service providers that provide a cloud-based infrastructure that is scalable based on business needs. Security needs to be a key aspect of this cloud-based infrastructure. In any business, security protects the core infrastructure—that is, the hardware, software, networking, and facilities that are running services. A servicer's core infrastructure must provide the flexibility to launch new products or services efficiently in a way that protects data. As a result, the infrastructure becomes a fluid asset, just as information going in and out of mortgage In 2017, servicers can compete with popular rocket mortgages using a simple, four-part strategy. SHOOTING FOR THE STARS