George Conard is the Executive Director, Technology for Microfinance, at Grameen Foundation. The Foundation’s Mifos Initiative delivers open source technology and business services for microfinance institutions worldwide.

Back-office management information systems (MIS) are a critical enabler of the growth and effectiveness of microfinance. To realize the full value of the technology, however, MFIs must look beyond the software and consider human and business process factors. Further, the value of the technology investment will be multiplied dramatically as the core MIS is integrated into other internal and external technology systems.

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We’re delighted to welcome a new guest blogger today. George Conard is the Executive Director, Technology for Microfinance, at Grameen Foundation. The Foundation’s Mifos Initiative delivers open source technology and business services for microfinance institutions worldwide.

Today, a lot of attention is being paid to front-end technologies for microfinance, but it’s important to remember that back-end systems – the technologies that process the billions of small financial transactions – are still at the heart of the delivery of financial services to the poor. Core management information systems (MIS), while not the headline grabber, are the engine for innovation and scale in microfinance.

If we want to add significant numbers of poor people to the ranks of microfinance (and we must do so), MFIs must have a robust core technology infrastructure that enables them to grow quickly and efficiently. While many MFIs today do have MIS systems in place, a significant proportion of those systems are not supporting the growth and increased impact of the institutions running them.

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