PLYMOUTH, Minn. — For many credit unions, selecting a new core provider is a cumbersome, tedious process that takes months and sometimes more than a year.
For TruStone Financial FCU, it would be a process repeated twice in as many years.
"We were faced with a unique opportunity of choosing a core solution just one year after implementation of the now sun-setted Fiserv Acumen solution," said John Verplank, vice president of information technology at TruStone.
"We examined all solutions, possibilities and long-term needs and decided to go with Jack Henry's Symitar in-house Episys core system," he said. "The decision took approximately 90 days."
To ensure that the process was as effortless as possible, the $943 million CU, supporting 84,000 members in 13 branches, looked internally as opposed to a third-party consultant.
"TruStone Financial has excellent internal legal counsel and security officers who worked diligently with Symitar's team to negotiate a contract to fit both parties' interests," Verplank said.
The internal guidance team comprised managers from compliance, finance, lending, member services, operations and technology. "This team met weekly to review the project plan, milestones and next steps," Verplank said. "We worked diligently with Symitar to keep the project moving ahead or on schedule and communicated openly on plan status with those involved."
Why Size Matters
For many CUs, there is often a shortage of employees who can essentially do double-time and dedicate efforts to a significant undertaking such as a core conversion.
"Many of the milestones involved in a conversion would be present regardless of the credit union's asset size," said Ted Bilke, president of Symitar. "Probably not surprising to anyone, but many smaller credit unions have the same level of products as their larger peers."
And while Bilke conceded that the number of personnel that a CU can dedicate to project might make a difference, when it comes to execution the majority of the tasks are similar. "If you have a large credit union with 600 employees and 25 branches, the scale is simply larger than a credit union with 100 employees and five locations," Bilke said. "We adjust for size by following the same task plan and expanding it out from nine to 12 months and even to 18 months for credit unions in the $3 billion-to-$10 billion asset range."
Regardless of the vendor selected or the size of the CU, snafus are usually common at some point during the process. But after a 10-month slog, Verplank and his team cited no major issues, despite dealing with the inherent complexities of a core conversion.
For TruStone's 10-person IT department, the process was considered smooth as well, though employees were pushed slightly harder to meet objectives and milestones.
"Every person within the department was involved in some way," Verplank said. "Two IT managers served on the conversion team to ensure the many IT tasks were completed ahead of schedule and report back to the IT team on upcoming needs."
And while Verplank said that all departments were affected during the conversion time table, the IT department carried a heavier weight. "IT was working to support the old core solution, at the same time as implementing the new solution," he said. "Resources were stretched thin, but the team did an outstanding job to meet the demands of this enterprise conversion. We focused on trying to deliver our new tasks way ahead of schedule."
Measured expectations are critical during the conversion process, Bilke said. This should include management anticipating and creating new workflows and process improvements that result after core implementation.
"One consistent theme we see is a credit union trying to convert to exactly the same processes as it has on the current core," Bilke said. "We encourage our converting clients to agree on several key areas that they want to see improvement in and focus on those during the conversion."
Bilke also advises CUs to have a system utilization engagement in place about one year after conversion and every other year thereafter to assure that the system is being used to its fullest. "Achieving and maintaining an efficient operation doesn't end with the conversion, that's when it starts," Bilke said. "Our most successful customers understand the need for continuous improvement and invest to identify and capitalize on opportunities."
With the conversion still fresh, Verplank said that all departments are still working on smaller "after conversion projects," but he added that the IT department is already noticing faster processing time and more automated daily and month end processing.
"A conversion of this magnitude does not only impact the IT department, every single department and employee in the organization was impacted. Extensive staff training, testing and communication were necessary to make this project a success," Verplank said.
