April 2, 2002 -- Technicians at Metavante Corporation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and CGI in Ontario, Canada, are spending less time in the test lab these days. Instead they use Paragon's Virtual Test Lab, residing on their PCs and powered by the WorkSmart ATM Suite™. The Virtual Test Lab enables them to do the bulk of their ATM testing without ATMs, without test cards, and without vying for test time in the lab.
"We use it for system testing with our clients, to generate transactions in our lab, and envision eventually using it in a certification environment. I find it a very useful tool in resolving production issues-And our technicians love the convenience of generating transactions without running to the lab," says Randy Schmidt of CGI.
The Virtual Test Lab from the WorkSmart ATM Suite is composed of:
ATMulator™, for ATM simulation,
ConfigBuilder™, for building ATM terminal configuration (or "load") files, and
FASTest™ for ATMs for automatic, scripted ATM testing.
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CGI is the fourth largest independent information technology services firm in North America, providing retail banking, transaction processing, and payroll services to over 2300 institutions. With more than 3,500 clients, including the largest 20 banks in the United States, Metavante is a leading financial services enabler, delivering virtually all of the technology that an organization needs to offer financial services. Both firms use ACI's BASE24 and found themselves facing a similar dilemma.
"We needed to easily customize and standardize our ATM configuration files," explains Randy Schmidt of CGI. "We had a limited number on staff who knew how to write ATM configuration files, and we hoped a PC-based product would make it easier for more people to learn that skill. We were right."
John Carr from Metavante adds, "The Paragon products are excellent. We find the integration of ATMulator and FASTest saves us a lot of time both in working with the ATM files and testing BASE24."
Schmidt continues, "As a service bureau, we have to test with many entities, but we have a limited number of ATMs in our test lab. We were very anxious to try ATMulator. It is easier to set up and test error conditions, such as dispense problems, on ATMulator than a real ATM-and I can do it without leaving my desk."
CGI also discovered an unexpected benefit. Schmidt said, "Using ConfigBuilder and ATMulator, we can demo our new ATM configurations to our clients as well as our staff. We can show them all the added functions and changed ATM screens without needing an ATM."
But a product is only as good as the support it provides, as Carr is quick to attest. "Paragon's consultants have been very helpful in explaining all the products' features-and more than willing to help with any difficulties we encountered in trying to meet our aggressive deadlines," he said.
Schmidt agrees, "Paragon's consultants are extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and quick to respond."
The test labs at Metavante and CGI may be virtual, but the benefits they are enjoying are very real.
