On February 24, 2022, CU*Answers published the availability of the gap analysis report detailing the results of a Dark Data Center test as part of a remodel project to upgrade the Emergency Power Off (EPO) safety system. Prior to the power interruption at the production data center, member-facing core-processing applications including online and mobile banking were redirected to systems at the secondary data center. “With the experience gained from more than a decade of regular, live, production system rollovers, teams were very confident going into the event,” said Jim Lawrence, VP of Operations and Business Continuity.

With multiple sources of power implemented at each data center as part of the overall strategy, power interruptions are a rare occurrence. Intentionally shutting off power as part of a remodel project gave the CUSO the opportunity to learn about the interdependencies of all systems and networks at a level that daily operations can’t provide. The knowledge gained from these types of events is  extremely valuable as CU*Answers seeks to continually enhance its resilience in the wide range of digital services it provides for credit unions.

CU*Answers schedules and conducts live production rollovers every six months involving all online credit unions to test their capabilities to recover core processing applications promptly and effectively in the event of an unplanned disruptive incident. With every test, gaps and weaknesses are exposed and corrected. Rather than just announce each rollover event, CU*Answers has a history of sharing the gaps and corrective actions taken in the form of a report, published for each in-network credit union to review, and to the public at large, reflecting the investment and effort put into the corporate Business Continuity program.

The reports are available at from the CU*Answers website as well as details about the CU*Answers high availability program, including information and resources to assist credit unions in the design and testing of their own continuity and recovery programs.