1. Tech Time: Benefits of Being a Beta Site
October 2013 – Vol: 36 No. 10
Q&A: Negotiated discounts and a great opportunity to learn
October 23, 2013
Credit Union Management magazine’s Web-only “Tech Time” column runs the fourth
Wednesday of the month.
$733 million Publix Employees Federal Credit Union, Lakeland, Fla., has been involved in beta
testing for several companies in the last few years. CUES member Karen Sullivan, CISSP, CISA,
the CU’s CIO/chief security officer, describes what the CU has done and the benefits it has
reaped as a result.
1. What have you been a beta test site for so far?
Our credit union has been involved in beta testing for several companies in the past few years.
We spent more than a year implementing and testing SIP trunking with Verizon Business for
both our production site in Lakeland and our disaster site in Jacksonville. This allows us to route
our VoIP traffic and provide redundancy within our network for voice, so if one branch would go
down, routing would continue uninterrupted through the other.
We were a beta tester for AccessSoftek mobile banking. We tested not only the core
functionality, but such application enhancements as PayPal integration and remote deposit
capture. We are currently testing load balancing of the mobile banking servers between our
Lakeland and Jacksonville offices. In addition, we are testing and preparing to offer bill-pay
functionality on the mobile platform. The next test will be financial institution-to-financial
institution transfers for our mobile banking application.
We just completed phase one of multi-host failover (a method of protecting computer systems
from failure, in which standby equipment automatically takes over when the main system
fails) for Symitar, a Jack Henry and Associates company (and CUES Supplier member). This
application will eventually allow us to failover our core processing system to a maximum of
eight servers distributed throughout a network. We will have failover capabilities from Lakeland
to Jacksonville and then to our tertiary site in Norcross, Ga., once completed.
Another beta test with Symitar was for moving the core processing backup system from tape to
disk-based backups.
2. What were the financial advantages of doing so?
We were able to negotiate substantial discounts in the final product.

2. 3. What other reasons made you interested in doing this?
Being involved in beta testing allows us to provide input that can influence the final version of
the product to our advantage. We also benefit by becoming intimately familiar with the product
and learning how to troubleshoot the product at a deeper level if necessary because of the
knowledge we gained. We also benefit during the beta because of the skills transfer and training
we receive on the product. This helps us better support the product in the future.
4. What made your IT shop a good candidate for being a beta site?
Our IT department has the appropriate technical skills as well as excellent documentation skills.
Our eight team members have these titles: CIO/chief security officer, VP/information
technology, information security officer, senior systems administrator, systems administrator,
network engineer, help desk administrator, and technology support technician. Additionally, we
have a very sophisticated server/network infrastructure that allows for a lot of flexibility,
redundancy and failover capabilities.
5. How did you manage the extra workload?
Our IT department doesn’t consider a beta test extra work since the outcome will benefit the
credit union from a business perspective. We have not had to add additional staff to handle beta
tests because we have a fully virtualized environment and best-of-breed equipment from
companies such as EMC and Cisco.
6. What did you and your team learn from being a test site?
We end up knowing the product thoroughly when compared to an average purchaser because
there is a wealth of knowledge transfer during the beta.
7. How long did the tests take?
On average, a test can be anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months.
8. Who on your team worked on the testing and in what capacity?
The entire team is involved at some point, whether it be implementing, configuring, testing or
security of the product. Then we provide the necessary training for our members or end users on
the product by use of WebEx, video on YouTube or the intranet, or documentation created
internally. If the product being tested is member facing, we make sure to keep our marketing
department informed so the announcement of the product can be made in a timely manner
through several marketing channels, such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, our website or
targeted email blasts.
9. Did you have to travel to the company site, too? Did they come to you?

3. No travel was required for any of the tests. All tests were completed internally through phone
calls or WebEx meetings.
10. Would you do it again? Why? Why not? What would you do differently if you did it
again?
Yes, we would do it again because there are many benefits both from a financial perspective and
a knowledge perspective. In the beta testing we have performed, there is nothing we would have
done differently.
11. What do you think readers would like to know about being a beta site that I didn't ask?
It is important to make sure your department is well organized and has good project management
skills, that you understand all the hardware and software requirements, timelines expected by the
vendor and to have excellent documentation skills. It is also important to have the tools and
expertise to create training, if necessary, for your members and employees. All of our projects
have email distribution groups to maintain good communication of all aspects of the project or
test to ensure positive results.