Want to Be a Beta Site? Here's Why You Might Say Yes (or No), and What It Takes
Lauren Bielski · ABA banking journal · 2009
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tim Lockwood is CIO, who used to be CFO, who's attitude is always CID when it comes to beta testing software. If you're not text maven, CID is brief speak for consider it done. And it's that can-do attitude that makes testing software win-win for Grand Rapids, Mich.-based United Bank of Michigan and Fiserv, its primary vendor. I've always liked technology, says the chief information officer. As proof of this, Lockwood points out that he was very early Mac user, back when the units were tiny, squat, off-white boxes that resembled child's toy. Meanwhile, at the office, even as a numbers guy, Lockwood kept steady stream of new software coming into the fold during the rise of client server--and beyond. I was running the accounting department, I would often bring in new software early, so that we could automate some aspect of the account collection process, he says. At time when his peers may have been afraid to upset the mainframe apple cart, Lockwood tended to zero in on new software's upside potential. Bring the story to the present tense, and this same inquisitiveness has led the technologist through several Fiserv beta tests (the term used for placing new or revised technology products with actual users in normal operating conditions prior to official release). Erik Wichita, senior vice-president and chief production officer for Fiserv's Premier product line, agrees that Lockwood likes software. He's conscientious, detailed-oriented guy. Wichita says that in his numerous dealings with the CIO and the bank, which runs Fiserv wares in its own data center, beta testing is so organized that it is nearly down to, well, scientific method. In 2006, the $425 million-assets bank hosted test (which included NCR) during the phase-in of then emerging, no-envelope ATM devices. In 2007, tested Fiserv's mobile banking capability, working through the refinement of the interface. In both cases, the bank took early adoption of ATM and mobile banking service throughout its network of 11 branches. In mid-October, was hosting the test of new product, known during this phase as ACH Manager for Premier. This product is slated to meet new compliance requirements for International Transactions (IAT), which address, among other things, the latest OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) rules and vetting of inbound international debits. Wichita, who is involved in the current beta, says his banker beta testers are the kind of technophiles who see new systems and tools as way to enhance their operations--that is, the software improves business process and yields strategic advantage. In the case of United Bank of Michigan, the drive is always there, as Lockwood puts it, to make sure that a comparatively little community bank keeps with the big guys. UBM is representative of about 20% of our clients--the ones who are motivated and who push us to do faster says Wichita. Waterfalls and other details When it comes to understanding how beta testing works, lifting the veil isn't easy. Quality assurance and the subset of code testing tend to be low profile--even secretive--sides of the business, where third-parties are often shunned in order to keep R&D secrets untold and quality truly assured, not merely politely promised. Software testing typically occurs throughout the lifecycle of software, as it grows up from alpha to beta and throughout the client-facing phase of debugging. Jeff Rogler, director of Quality Assurance & Documentation at Jack Henry & Associates, pointed out that the agile method, used at Jack Henry for enhancements that occur throughout the year apart from major annual upgrades, essentially brings together small groups of coders and product specialists to handle incremental aspects of the code testing under short, tight timeline--no longer than month. …