PITTSFIELD, Maine — Increasing concerns about data breaches were among the reasons executives at Sebasticook Valley Federal Credit Union decided to undertake a core conversion along with a network update.
"We were with Sharetec Systems, and we were primarily concerned with the security of our in-house data processing system," said Sebasticook Valley FCU President and CEO James Lemieux. "We wanted the best possible environment to secure our data and we felt a service-bureau was the best option."
The call for a core change began a few years ago, according to Lemieux, who added that after looking at different vendors, Synergent was selected. Owned by credit unions, the Westbrook, Maine-based firm has been in operation since 1971 and provides the Symitar Episys core processing platform.
"Synergent has worked tirelessly over the years to build a secure and dependable system, including the recent addition of a dedicated disaster-recovery site and data security investments," said Lemieux. "The fact that they are owned by credit unions and the Maine Credit Union League also played an important role in our decision."
Core Discovery
Having overseen roughly 85 core conversions, Synergent's Executive Vice President Gary Glenn said CU executives should start the core search process two years before their existing core agreement expires.
"The best way to handle all the moving parts is to assign a leader for the project and a small core conversion team early and begin to determine all of the changes that need to be made at the time of conversion," said Glenn.
Lemieux explained that the $92 million Sebasticook Valley FCU's discovery date mirrored the timeline Glenn previously noted. The process was championed by a handful of the CU's 24 employees.
"In preparation for the conversion we appointed a small team of our people to cover each area of the credit union, which was led by our Executive Vice President Kelley Carter," said Lemieux. "The implementation team worked as a group and individually to meet the deadlines for conversion."
Picking a trustworthy vendor is critical to a successful core conversion, noted Lemieux. "Spend time talking to their customers and see the software in a live environment. In preparing for implementation, you should be ready to assist your members with the requirements of getting their online and mobile applications live."
While Sebasticook Valley did not employ a consultant to address existing and future vendor contracts, an intellectual property attorney was retained for legal issues surrounding the network upgrade as well as the core conversion.
"We made a big project even bigger," said Lemieux. "It has worked out well because now that we have it behind us we can focus on using the new software and technology to gain efficiencies."
Core to Core
The prospect of a new core platform is exciting, but it's equally important to maintain a solid working relationship with the existing core provider to ensure a smooth transition. This was the case for Sebasticook Valley, which launched Symitar's Episys core processing platform on March 2, 2016.
"Our relationship with our prior vendor is good and they were helpful and responsive during the process," said Lemieux. "We'll likely keep our old system running for legacy purposes for a short time into the future. This isn't a difficult undertaking because we have the system in-house."
To prepare for the conversion, Lemieux and his team trained on an alternate database with real data. To this end, there was no soft launch, he noted, but rather "extensive testing was done on the data and conversion files ahead of time to ensure a smooth transition."
In most cases, Glenn said a CU should assume the core conversion process will take one year from contract signing to going live. "For the credit union to be comfortable with the new systems after going live it [usually] takes another nine months to a year," he added.
Lemieux conceded that it's too early to determine the purported benefits of Episys, but he foresees the ability to serve the CU's 11,000 members with enhanced, secure services without adding staff. In the coming months, he also expects Synergent's role to be more pronounced.
"We are just now getting ready to transition to a normal support relationship with our partner Synergent," said Lemieux. "To this point, we have had a dedicated contact person to work through any outstanding issues of which there were few."
