Start

Starting point: After acquiring a large mortgage lending company, our client – a Fortune 10 financial services giant – sought to convert its vendor-based mortgage processing system to the acquiree’s proprietary system. The client soon realized that the conversion project would require extensive testing for more than 70 applications across the enterprise. Failure to quickly and thoroughly test these applications could have costly consequences.

Why CG?

Why CG?: The client turned to CG to solve its testing dilemma because we:

  • Knew the client’s business and its mortgage processing system inside and out
  • Had the testing experience and program management skills that were required to successfully oversee this demanding component of the project
  • Could get the testing effort up and running immediately
Roadmap

The CG Roadmap: CG project management consultants and testing experts quickly got to work developing an end-to-end strategy that established objectives for each testing phase, and then managed and monitored the entire process. CG also trained the client’s resources on correct testing procedures and best practices.

Milestone

Memorable Milestone: With so much activity happening over a short period of time, it was essential that CG develop a standardized reporting system and define communication lines and procedures for the large, geographically dispersed testing team. Our design and oversight of the testing program played a key role in our client’s ability to launch the new system quickly and cost-effectively – and to reap the rewards.

Success

Success: CG’s testing solution cleared the way for project delivery and business benefit:

  • Thorough testing of over 70 applications – both internal and client-facing
  • Significant man-hour savings – time that would have been spent identifying and fixing costly system errors
  • Successful testing was key to $23 million in savings from the conversion effort

Mortgage Conversion Testing

Fortune 10 Bank

CG’s testing expertise keeps strategic conversion of mortgage processing system on track for Fortune 10 bank

Business Challenge: Lack of testing capabilities could hamstring high-stakes conversion effort

After acquiring a large mortgage lending company, our client – a Fortune 10 financial services giant itself – sought to convert its vendor-based mortgage processing system to the acquiree’s proprietary system. Moving to the best-of-breed system offered our client numerous advantages: better knowledge management, more robust processing capabilities, and a lower cost per transaction rate. The client was ready to move full steam ahead, but soon realized that the conversion project would require extensive testing for more than 70 applications across the enterprise. Failure to quickly and thoroughly test these applications could prove costly: hundreds of thousands of dollars in vendor software fees; additional man-hours; damaging system errors; compromised customer experiences; even lost market share.

The CG Solution: Knowledge, speed, and experience

The client turned to CG, a trusted and experienced partner, to solve its testing dilemma. CG knew the client’s business and its mortgage processing system inside and out. It was already spearheading the conversion project and it had the testing experience and program management skills that were required to successfully oversee this demanding component of the project. The client also knew that CG could get the testing effort up and running immediately.

CG project management consultants and testing experts quickly got to work developing an end-to-end strategy that established objectives for each testing phase, and then managed and monitored the entire process. With so much activity happening over a short period of time, it was essential that CG develop a standardized reporting system and define communication lines and procedures for the large, geographically dispersed testing team. CG also trained the client’s resources on correct testing procedures and best practices.

In addition, the CG testing team:

  • Collected, reviewed, and published more than 150 test plans to meet the deadline for release standards
  • Ensured over 20,000 test scripts were loaded into the application, reported on, and reconciled before, during, and after each test phase
  • Identified and resolved nearly 2,000 defects over the course of the project

Results: A testing solution that cleared the way for project delivery and business benefit

CG’s design and oversight of the comprehensive testing program for the conversion initiative played a key role in the client’s ability to launch the new system quickly and cost-effectively – and to reap the rewards. The client was able to maximize the business and technology value of the acquisition, while maintaining a fast and seamless transition for its 3.2 million customers.

       Success Metrics:

  • Saved the client $23 million in vendor software fees from the successful conversion initiative, which relied heavily on CG’s time-sensitive and comprehensive testing solution
  • Thorough testing of over 70 applications – both internal and client-facing applications – saved client business units significant man hours that would have been spent identifying and fixing time-consuming and costly system errors
  • Resolved all defects for the system conversion within the client’s 30-day project warranty period