A core system change requires preparation, execution andfollow-up. And when it converted to D+H's PhoenixEFE Core platform,the $1.3 billion Dupaco Community Credit Union became familiar withthe importance of all three.

Not only did the Dubuque, Iowa-based Dupaco implement thePhoenixEFE Core, it also assisted with the system's development anddesign for credit unions.

PhoenixEFE Core is a real-time, integrated enterprise platformdesigned for commercially-focused credit unions. The systemprovides real-time transaction processing and an account-servicingengine. It also integrates applications through a service-orientedarchitecture, includes a universal loan and deposit servicing, andoffers an integrated general ledger.

So how should a credit union decide on a new core system, according to Dupaco?

“The first step is defining a need,” D+H Senior SolutionsMarketing Manager, Enterprise Solutions Stan Cowan said. “What doesthe core system do today and what would you like it to do better?What can it not do that the credit union wants it to do? It's agreat time to take a step back and look at existing processes andask those difficult 'Why do we do it this way?' questions.”

Dupaco began looking for a new core in 2005, Chief InformationOfficer Steve Ervolino explained. It spent the next several yearslooking for the right replacement system, one that would supportits heavy involvement in commercial business – primarily realestate and business services.

After narrowing the field to three choices, the credit unionselected PhoenixEFE. At the time, Harland Financial Solutions wasadding functionality its Phoenix core system for community banksplatform so it could also service credit unions (D+H acquiredHarland Financial Solutions in 2013). The company invited Dupaco totake part in the credit union development piece of PhoenixEFE.

Cowan noted there are many elements involved in personalizingthe core conversion experience, including business and connectivityrequirements, interface/integration planning, building the serverenvironment, training, final configuration and audit, mockconversion testing, onsite client support, and ongoing,post-conversion client support.

Ervolino identified some key elements for credit unionsconsidering a core system overhaul, beginning with the creation ofa core conversion team.

He recommended credit unions identify experts in every area –deposits, loans, membership, financial services, collections,accounting, back-office and card processing – and ask them tocommit time early in the project.

“It is critical that the people who know everything about thecredit union inside and out are all on the same page and working onthe project,” Ervolino said. “No one person can knoweverything.”

Cowan agreed, stating, “As anyone who has been through a coreconversion will tell you, all functional areas within the creditunion are touched and should be involved. Involving representativesfrom all functions becomes critical. It leaves no stoneunturned.”

Another key step involved data cleansing. Over time, coresystems, due to lack of training or inattention to detail, cansometimes get messy.

“The more data you can clean up ahead of time on your existingcore system, the cleaner the conversion process will be at theend,” Ervolino said.

The Dupaco chief information officer also suggested looking atall the applications used by the credit union, not just the core.These include the loan origination, deposit origination, onlinebanking, telephone banking and credit systems.

“[These are] all of the different ancillary things that interactwith the core but aren't necessarily part of the core,” Ervolinosaid.

During its conversion process, Dupaco identified supplementarysystems that required third-party solutions. The credit union addedJwaala's online banking solution, D+H's DepositPro for depositorigination and Velocity from Fiserv, an open architecture loanorigination system.

Ervolino suggested converting those types of solutionsearly.

“If you have the opportunity to convert some of those prior tothe core system conversion, it can really help that initial shockto the staff and to the membership,” he said.

Dupaco, for example, converted its online banking and consumerloan origination systems over a year before the coreconversion.

“That got all the training and learning, and membership calls,out of the way before the core conversion,” Ervolino said.

Cowan said throughout the conversion process, D+H focused onthese strategic client deliverables:

• An onsite, strategic business review to gain mutualunderstanding of the client's needs;

• Continuous process excellence through the utilization of oneprogram manager to coordinate all touch points with best practicesand processes; and

• A solutions diagram that visually represented D+H, third-partyand vendor interfaces for a unified integration.

“The overall goal at D+H is for our clients to experience aconsistent approach to software implementations when initiating,planning, executing and concluding their projects,” Cowan said.

Thorough training is also critical to core conversionsuccess.

“It will take months, it will take thousands of man hours, butit is critical,” Ervolino said. “You have to make sure your staffis very comfortable with the system itself before the day you golive, otherwise you will just overwhelm everyone.”

By the time user training starts, many rounds of dataverification involving all aspects of functionality will haveoccurred, Cowan added.

“One important element of training involves using the creditunion's actual data for beta testing,” he said. “User acceptancetraining literally walks the credit union through every aspect ofhow the system is used every day, including end of month, quarterand year reporting.”

Dupaco set up an in-house lab that could train 16 people at atime. The credit union created a spreadsheet with employees' names,job functions and training requirements. It then assigned people tothose courses and mapped out an education plan to span about twoand a half months.

Dupaco's transition involved extra steps because of itsinvolvement in the PhoenixEFE Core development project.

“We did a lot of design meetings and user acceptance testing,types of things you wouldn't do in a normal conversion,” Ervolinorecalled.

This included working directly with the D+H development team todesign functionality specific to credit unions. Functionalityrelated to things like relationship pricing and HELOCs wasdifferent from what PhoenixEFE developers had seen before.

“There were close to 300 different development projects that wewere part of during those initial years before we went live,”Ervolino said. “A typical conversion is not going to involve that,it is going to involve looking at your data, looking at your thirdparties and training your staff.”

Dupaco's core conversion effort did not end when the creditunion went live with PhoenixEFE some five years ago. Since then,the credit union has done a lot of internal workflowdevelopment.

“Because of the open architecture, it's been very easy tointegrate member data into customer applications we've writtenourselves,” Ervolino said.

Easy access to the core has also allowed the credit union toenhance its online banking and add CreditQuest, a D+H product.

Phoenix's flexible interest rate and payment plan schedulesenabled Dupaco to do some creative things with commercial loansthat it was unable to do on its previous platform.

“There was a lot a manual work involved in anything likeirregular payments or multiple interest schedules,” Ervolino said,adding that now, Phoenix automates all of that.

Ensuring the credit union continues to follow core system bestpractices post-conversion is also important. Post-conversion,Dupaco pared down its conversion team, and the remaining membersfunctioned as an internal help desk for a period of time, assistingfrontline staff with issues and questions.

The credit union continues to house a group of experts whoreview new core releases and enhancements, test those releases anddetermine whether any new functionality fits into Dupaco'soperations.

“A lot of technology sometimes gets a lot of attention at thebeginning and then people stop looking at it as time goes on,”Ervolino explained.

Ervolino also suggested credit unions interact with their creditunion peers post-conversion to share best practices and discussissues, and maintain a good relationship with their vendor. “Makesure you know what [the vendor] technology roadmap looks like,” hesaid. “[See] what functionality is coming and communicate back whatfeatures you need that don't exist today.”