Mortgage Portfolio Conversion

CG spearheads complex mortgage system conversion to deliver cost savings, efficiency, and consistent customer service to Fortune 10 bank

Business Challenge: A necessary, but complex move to a better way of doing business

After acquiring a large mortgage lending company, our client – a Fortune 10 financial services giant itself – sought to convert its vendor-based mortgage processing system to the acquiree’s proprietary system. Moving to the best-of-breed system offered our client numerous advantages: better knowledge management, more robust processing capabilities, and a lower cost per transaction rate. CG’s client wanted to move fast in order to stay ahead of brewing market developments and maximize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition. But it needed business  guidance and specific technology expertise, along with strong program  management capabilities, to:

• Identify and resolve lurking business challenges.
• Maintain quality of information and high customer service levels.
• Deliver on the cost, performance, and maintenance advantages of the conversion.

The CG Solution: Closely manage the integration of business realities with technology capabilities

The client chose CG because of its in-depth knowledge of its current vendor-based mortgage processing system and its established track record of delivering spot-on strategic advice and even better results.

Management Consulting: CG’s management consulting experts worked closely with the client to provide the direction, design, program management, and technical support for the entire conversion process. They identified numerous business impacts and worked with the client’s mortgage group business leaders to resolve issues such as re-numbering of loans and the unavailability of time-sensitive information on the system.

Delivery: CG technology delivery consultants conducted a system gap analysis and then provided the application development, data management, and testing expertise that the client lacked. They also were the go-to team for creating non-vendor conversion files required to speed the conversion and minimize the impact to customer interface systems.

On the testing front, the CG team developed and executed on a rapid and thorough testing strategy, which played a critical role in the overall conversion effort. CG developed objectives for each testing phase and delivered against them, including the following accomplishments:

• Collected, reviewed, and published more than 150 test plans to meet the deadline for release standards
• Ensured over 20,000 test scripts were loaded into the application, reported on, and reconciled before, during, and after each test phase
• Identified and resolved nearly 2,000 defects over the course of the project

Read more about the testing component of this conversion project.

Program & Project Management: CG also provided the end-to-end program and project management expertise required to oversee all critical phases of the conversion project. CG used an inclusive and transparent program management philosophy to integrate valuable business perspectives and processes with a customized technology platform.

CG’s contributions included:

• Partnering with the lender’s technical and business groups to ensure a seamless, enterprise-wide conversion of systems
• Taking the lead on all team communications, status updates, and critical conversion scheduling tasks

Results: Systems improved, money saved, customers satisfied

The new processing system allows the lender to maximize the value of the acquisition – removing nearly $26 million in costs, reducing inefficiencies related to system redundancies, and improving overall system functionality and performance – while making the transition a smooth and consistent one for customers. And CG did it all for a significant cost savings over the system vendor’s proposal.

        Success Metrics:

• Saved the client $23 million in vendor software fees from timely, successful system conversion
• Saved the client an additional $2.5 million from the early decommissioning of systems
• Reduced vendor costs for technical guidance in the conversion of two systems, delivering an estimated savings of $300,000
• Identified and resolved key account numbering issues, resulting in the seamless transition of 3.2 million customers from one account number to another