Case Study: First West Credit Union achieves a unified intranet and agile collaboration with Microsoft SharePoint

In Cloud We Trust: How First West Credit Union uses the Microsoft Cloud to offer Canadians a better way to do financial services

First West Credit Union, B.C.’s third-largest credit union serving roughly 240,000 members, faced significant tech debt after rapid growth through mergers: fragmented platforms, outdated hardware, cumbersome licensing, and pervasive “shadow IT” that kept its IT team tied to maintenance instead of strategic work.

First West adopted the Microsoft Cloud—moving to Office 365 apps (Yammer, SharePoint, Skype for Business), Exchange, and planned Azure migration—to standardize systems, unify intranets, and modernize communication. The shift improved collaboration and culture, strengthened security and regulatory compliance with Microsoft’s support, reduced capital and vendor costs, and freed IT to focus on innovation and advanced analytics.

First West Credit Union

Darrell Jaggers

CIO