On February 6, 2022, CU*Answers conducted the true test of any Business Continuity program by shutting off power to the production data center as part of a remodel project. Prior to the power interruption, recovery teams performed high-availability rollover procedures to redirect core processing services, including online and mobile banking environments, to systems at the secondary data center. With member-facing services operating from alternate locations, team completed the data center remodel project that includes an upgrade and test of the Emergency Power Off (EPO) safety system.

“The last power interruption to the production data center occurred in 2012,” said Jim Lawrence, VP of Operations and Business Continuity. “At that time, a construction project was completed to double our utility and alternate power capacity to accommodate future growth. Significant changes have occurred in the ten years since, not only to the technology installed in the data center, but also to the breadth of digital services our client credit unions and members count on us for. Reliance on any one site is no longer feasible in the 24/7 world we live in today.” Core processing services will continue operating from the secondary data center until the scheduled rollback on Sunday, February 13.

At the conclusion of each rollover and recovery exercise, whether planned or unplanned, CU*Answers publishes a full gap analysis report for credit unions to review. More about Business Continuity Services offered to both online and in-house credit unions by CU*Answers, including reports from recent recovery and rollover events, is available on their website.