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Case Studies: The Commercial & Savings BankCenturion Eases Testing and Solidifies Disaster Preparedness for Commercial & Savings Bank
Client Profile A disaster is no time to worry about multiple vendors being available to assist with recovery support. That's why Shawn Oswald, Vice President and Information Systems Director at The Commercial & Savings Bank (CSB), was thrilled when Centurion Disaster Recovery became part of Jack Henry & Associates in 1995. All the support needed for disaster recovery testing would now be under the Jack Henry umbrella. Support is critical to CSB, an Ohio institution that has prided itself in superior customer service since 1879. An independent, community bank since its inception, the oldest bank in the county continues to provide state-of-the-art products and services at a fair, competitive price. At CSB, customers are considered trusted partners.
Bringing Disaster Recovery Testing Under One Roof At times, reciprocal agreements with other banks were necessary. Most recently, CSB had worked with a third party recovery vendor. Neither option was ideal. When testing with its previous vendor, CSB had to coordinate schedules of disaster recovery personnel and support staff of the core processing and ancillary product vendors. "When we encountered problems, we didn't always get the callback service we wanted," says Oswald. "With Centurion, all the support people we need are on hand and at our disposal. I don't have to worry about item capture and proof in one location from one vendor and then trying to transmit files across a line in order to get my core system updated. Everything we need to get back up and running is together under one roof. That's invaluable."
Preparing to Test This groundwork is done every year, as products are added, upgraded and programs change. "Centurion's testing documentation serves as a good refresher," comments Oswald. "It makes us go through our own procedures and policies and update them as necessary to ensure that we are ready in case of a disaster."
Centurion's Extensive & Flexible Testing "As we've added complementary products, Centurion has exhibited great flexibility and met all backup and recovery concerns we've had," says Oswald. For example, an ISDN line running from the Centurion recovery center in Angola, Indiana to one of the bank's locations handles remote communications. In the event of a disaster at the main bank, all branches will be up and running as soon as possible. "I like the fact that Centurion is able to accept our ACH information," Oswald adds. "I don't know of any other recovery vendor who is doing that." Both Centurion and Commercial & Savings Bank have agreements with the Federal Reserve so that ACH files are sent to Centurion as an alternate processor. From there, the files are imported into the bank's system so that processing can go forward without any problems. When problems do arise with regard to any of the testing, they are resolved quickly. "Support is excellent," Oswald says. During one particular test involving a non-Jack Henry product, there were difficulties restoring. The system in question would require retesting at the hot site after the problem was identified. Centurion found a slot for Oswald and his team two weeks later. Oswald recalls, "We were up against an examiner deadline and Centurion accommodated us so that we got in and out and proved the system worked."
Lessons Learned Oswald's aren't the only eyes that are open. Centurion keeps its eye focused on customers. As a result, The Commercial & Savings Bank continues to benefit from Centurion's depth of knowledge and unwavering support. Oswald rests in that fact and is pleased to report, "Centurion takes care of its customers." By Marsha Cansler   |
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CIF 20/20™ core processing
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