SAN DIEGO - Converting one large credit union's core data processing system without any glitches can be challenging enough. But try switching over four shops in one weekend-including three billion-dollar CUs.
That's what Symitar managed over this past Labor Day weekend, converting four credit unions to its Episys product. The data processor switched over the $1.3-billion Technology CU in San Jose and the $59-million Buckeye Community CU in Perry, Fla., as well as the merged entities of First Future CU/California Coast CU ($1.8 billion) here and Western FCU/Toyota FCU ($1.7 billion) in Manhattan Beach, Cal.
"We have been doing conversions every month for the last 15 years," said Symitar President Kathy Hooker Burress, who admitted that doing four in one weekend made her a little "nervous. Credit unions needed to merge, and these were the dates they needed to complete the conversions, so we just did them. It was a testament to the team."
That team included strong credit union partnership, explained Symitar Director of Operations Ted Bilke.
"The credit union and their proactive participation is the most essential ingredient in a successful conversion," Bilke said. "The conversions that tend to have the most issues are those in which the credit union expects the vendor to convert them."
Bilke asserts that no one knows the credit union's data better than the credit union itself, which can identify "quirky" accounts and monitor that information to make sure it transfers correctly. "When it comes to database verification, the vendor can miss things because we didn't know where to look for potential issues."
Despite the active participation of all the CUs involved in the Labor Day weekend conversions, converting four credit unions over a three-day weekend was challenging, Bilke admitted, and something Symitar does not do often. What made the task manageable was dedicating independent teams with individual project managers to each conversion, a standard Symitar practice, and applying the right resources, Bilke said. "We assembled the core teams and beefed them up and did not miss a beat."
Each core team is staffed with the same competencies: a project manager, programmer, installation coordinator, two business analysts, a general ledger analyst, and a letters/notices/reports analyst. Additional resources are added to each team based on the size of the conversion. Smaller conversions, like Buckeye, have around 12 team members total, 18 for big ones like Technology, according to Bilke.
The teams work toward the conversion date with the goal to have all data converting correctly and validated by the customer, and all of the interfaces and custom programs developed, 30 days prior to conversion, Bilke explained.
"So we go into quiet period the 30 days before the conversion and the credit union is just training internally and continuing to tweak small things. But you are 95% to 99% locked in that last 30 days. That allows us to have all of our credit unions referenceable the day we go live. And that was the case after Labor Day."
There were a few small problems, acknowledged Bilke, with California Coast members calling the credit union because they didn't understand how to use their new login and passwords for home banking.
"Cal underestimated the impact the conversion was going to have on members who needed to reset their home banking IDs," Bilke shared. "Their call center was overwhelmed the Wednesday following conversion. We sent over some additional resources to train the call center and by Friday it was business as usual."
Over at Technology FCU, a "handful" of debit cards didn't work for members because they were "missed" in the conversion and were "fixed quickly," Bilke said. "Card programs can be the hardest part of the conversion because most credit unions support multiple networks and card types. All of those have to be identified and set up."
Bilke agreed that something can be learned from each conversion. This time with four CUs switching at once, what did Symitar add to its knowledge bank?
"We'd spend a little more time validating the customers' test environments to ensure they replicate the production environment," Bilke said.
Would Symitar look to convert four shops in the same weekend again?
"We're no stranger to large conversions. We've converted San Antonio Credit Union and Municipal CU in New York City, and many times we've handled multiple conversions over the same weekend. If customers ask us to do this again, we'll do it."(c) 2008 Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
