Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 ...
The amount of time and effort to bring a new lending system live for your organization can be daunting. Organizations spend countless hours in the configuration and testing cycles to get things just right. You and your solution provider then put all of your hard work into the Production Environment. Then, when that first live loan comes through on your new platform, you make those final adjustments to get things just right. Great - you're finished! A project well done!
Now, what are you going to do with the test environment you spent so much time building? Unfortunately, in many cases, it is stuffed into the back of the digital closet, never to be heard from again...
Not a prudent idea.
Your test environment has significant benefits throughout the lifecycle of your software platform. It is a place where you make changes, and see what those changes do, before presenting them to your production platform. It is a sandbox, where you do not have to be afraid of breaking things, and affecting your customers. Some of the things you should always use Test for:
New Releases. Most vendors will submit upgrades to you for testing a few weeks before they go to your production environment. Take the time to read the release notes, and test out anything mentioned in the notes. It's also a good idea to spot-check functionality that has always worked, as it is not uncommon for new releases to break some existing functionality. If something doesn't work, let the vendor know!
New Products. If you are rolling out a new product, configure it in your test environment first. Check all of the parameters. Does the system obey the rules you set up in your product description? Do the fees match? Do the documents render as they should? Do you have to modify any of your reports so the new applications will appear? Each platform has its own nuances, and your testers will get to know specific areas to pay attention to when testing a new product.
New Documents. Documents are consistently getting upgraded for many reasons, especially regulatory compliance. When you receive new standard documents, test to make sure they are rendering correctly with the correct data. If you have custom documents, make sure all of the fields are coming over as expected.
I know you're thinking this sounds great in theory, but you are busy, and it's just as easy to make the changes to your production environment. Saves time, right?
Wrong.
There is nothing worse than starting the morning with a new upgrade, and all of a sudden your users show up at your door with that panicked look in their eyes. When they click on "that Button," something different happens than it did yesterday. That "document" is missing. They are getting a big fat error message...These types of things create stress with your team, and decrease their confidence with your system. You are also exposing your organization to a wide spectrum of risks, including regulatory, credit, data integrity, and reputational risks.
Not fun.
One of the keys to successful testing is including line users in the process. A lot of the testing can be performed by the Administrators, but in many cases the Administrator is not an expert in all of the lending functions. A best practice is to have Subject Matter Experts perform testing for their particular job functions in addition to the Administrator.
Some other key points:
Have a plan. Document your testing practice, and make sure you have a documented plan for testing the various scenarios that occur (Upgrade, New Product, New Document, etc.)
Test your integrations. Lending systems have multiple connections, including vendor services and internal systems. Make sure all of your integrations work with changes to your testing environment. One area that should be of particular focus is any integrations with your core processing or servicing systems.
Have a set of test cases. In many scenarios, having a set of test cases that you can reuse helps quickly identify issues. You know how these applications should process, and any variations are quickly apparent to your testers.
Keep your testing environments current. Many solutions make you run everything through a test environment before passing to production, which is ideal. Anyone who uses the Mortgagebot POS knows what I am talking about. In other platforms, it is up to you to make sure the testing environment is kept current. Talk with your solution providers about best practices for this.
Document. Keep current, accurate testing documentation. Not only is this a prudent practice, but these are critical systems as defined by the regulators, and they expect you to do this. This is a key part of both your change control and vendor management practices.
Communicate. As new items move through the path from testing to production, keep your staff informed of what is on the horizon. Most of the vendors have documentation and/or webinars explaining changes. Distribute this as applicable to your staff so they know what is coming, when, and why.
Happy testing !
Please feel free to reach out. I can be reached at pbates@scapartnering.com
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