“The scorecard process is where we create objectivity to what would otherwise be a subjective decision,” BHFCU SVP of IT John Buxton said.

“This phase of our process is critical as it reveals issues that would otherwise manifest themselves following contract signing and during the implementation. Or, worse yet, after conversion,” Samaha & Associates President/CEO Sabeh Samaha explained. “It is through this phase that we are able to render the entire process predictable and transparent, thus providing lift to the credit union, its team, and most importantly its members.”

In June, the core conversion team asked vendors that were onsite for interviews to elaborate on and conduct demonstrations related to issues, questions and concerns that arose.

“We call them interviews, unlike a demo where you sit back and grab a Coke and popcorn and just listen,” Samaha & Associates Managing Consultant Adam Denbo said.

“It is very much a show-me interview,” Buxton added.

Each of the three vendors that were being vetted visited the credit union for three days and met with a variety of credit union departments in comprehensive question-and-answer sessions. During the interview process, the conversion team looked for likes and dislikes related to each core system, as well as functions or features that each credit union department needs.

The different departments cycled through the interview process and into a lab, which was located in a neighboring room. When employees of each department shifted over to the lab environment, they received hands-on experience with the different core systems.

“When [staff] gets hands-on, they can really dig in, understand how it works, get a feel for it and ask more pointed questions in their environment,” Denbo noted.

Every department in the organization is involved in the scorecard process. Senior management decides on the weight that each category and sub-category carries. Additionally, the details within each main category and specific functionality sub-categories are highly customized for the credit union. During the scorecard process, the core team has been assessing the following categories:

• Strategic alliance, in which the credit union rates the vendor as a partner at the industry and relationship level;

• Strategic initiatives, in which the credit union assesses the vendor's ability to help BHFCU achieve its goals now and in the future;

• Functionality, which involves the core system's capabilities across all departmental disciplines; and

• Return on investment, in which the total cost of the system over the contract period is evaluated.

After the scorecard process, the next phase consists of a detailed gap analysis. Denbo pointed out that all systems have gaps, especially when third-party providers are involved. Samaha & Associates works closely with clients to hunt down those gaps and find resolutions. During this phase, core vendors receive requests for more information on certain features and functions through web demonstrations and follow-up conversations.

Subsequent to the gaps analysis comes the negotiation phase.

“We have a preselected No. 1 vendor, then a runner-up vendor,” Buxton said.

BHFCU is negotiating with its vendor of choice at the moment and following up on some of its interoperability with different third parties to ensure it made the correct decision.

As part of the core selection process, the credit union identified every single system and vendor currently under contract with BHFCU. Integration of online and mobile banking channels, for example, also becomes a factor in the core agreement.

The current timetable works out great for BHFCU, Buxton said, because it includes plans to initiate other third-party products before starting the core conversion process.

“We have a little bit of time as a luxury because of multiple projects going on,” he said.

He also emphasized the importance of a strategy that enables the credit union to peel off different third-party software packages either before or after the core conversion – but not during. This decreases the likelihood of increased member impact and allows staff to focus their internal resources on third parties that are making changes at predetermined times.

In addition to conducting a core search, Buxton said BHFCU is evaluating some of its key ancillary systems.

“We are not just reviewing core, we are also repeating that same process with some other systems such as mortgage, consumer lending, and online and mobile banking,” he said. “That is a little bit different; a lot of organizations go through just a core selection, but this is really much more than that. We have several other selections going on in parallel to the core.”

Some services are further along in the conversion process. The credit union already selected Digital insight, an NCR company, to provide its home banking product, which consists of online and mobile channels.

One reason why the credit union must proceed more quickly on the online and mobile banking side is because those channels are member-facing.

“With the core, the members don't interact with that directly.” Buxton said. “Our thought there is we can complete the selection, make that conversion and get that all done before we do the core conversion.”

Buxton pointed out BHFCU took a holistic view.

“Let's look at everything simultaneously. How do these other products fit into the new core?” he asked.