Smaller steps to introduce a new TA Technology

Now that Fundix has become a working transfer agency solution for a number of investment management, custodial and asset servicing groups, we have turned our attention more fully to how this kind of technology can be accepted in the market.

Boy, have we learned a lot.

First of all, we are starting to really understand that there has not been a lot of technology innovation in the back office world of financial services for quite a long time. People are really not used to seeing a new way of doing things. I'm finding that people don't really believe that a new technology will not only work, but that it can in fact make their business work better.

We met with one executive summarized the problem quite succinctly. Even though he and the people around him saw the significant business advantages he could not move forward. By the introduction of Fundix, he could eliminate 4 legacy technologies that are burdening his company. The business case was very powerful!

The money quote from our meeting?

"If I introduce another technology, my boss is going to kill me!"

OK, so it's going to take a while for people to get used to the idea of introducing one new technology that can obsolete multiple more expensive and inflexible ones.

So, we need to help these people get across the gap. Even though we are introducing new solutions that can simplify these peoples lives, we need to start with smaller steps.

Innovating in a Downturn

You might wonder, why would you take any kind of risk during a downturn? Why would we change horses, try anything new, introduce a new technology, or make any changes whatsoever? Good question, and I'm glad you asked.

One of the things that proves true again and again is that businesses act in cycles. Some group of people makes a bad judgment call, which screws things up for a bunch of people...in the short term. A bubble bursts, a greedy executive gets busted, a new administrator introduces new taxes and non-productive spending at the worst possible time.

However, the market as a whole is made of really smart people. They get tired of hiding under a table worrying about how the sky is going to fall, and figure out how to get back in the game. However, there's always a lag time between panic and rebound.

What do you do while you're waiting for things to come back? Use the time well. Innovate. Come up with new ways to lower expense and increase your service capability. Retire an old broken down system with a new way to deliver information. Find new ways to please your customer, without spending a huge amount of capital.

Then, things start to come back. The innovation is in place, you are ready to take market share while everybody else is just starting to crawl out from under their desk. You've made the adjustment, and are ready to go.

Get out from under your table. The sky may be dark for a while, but it's not going to fall in on you. Figure out a way to position for advantage when the darkness breaks.

Go for it.

Bloodletting in FinSrv IT

Yikes. Everybody I'm speaking with in FinSrv IT is getting laid off. It's pretty scary out there. If you're one of the management that has had to let go your technical people, I understand, these are scary times and expenses need to be cut.

If you're one of the folks who was let go because of managements need to cut expenses, don't take it personally. I've been there. Realize the fact that you can think, adapt, and come up with new solutions, and machines can't. It's time to innovate, and get back in there. FinSrv companies still need to keep running.

This is a time when the whole industry is re-thinking how it does business. We hope to be a part of that rethinking.

Awesome blog for TA systems

I just found this incredible blog for automated systems, including references in the TA space.

It's called Ronald Knecht Financial. I want to connect with this guy. I found an article that was particularly interesting about a TA Roundtable. In it, there is some incredible input from some real industry experts about where they see the future of TA going. There was an entire section in there about the European marketplace. I'm thinking that Fundix' ability to provide flexibly configured TA systems, delivered via a SaaS model may really help in Europe (particularly in Lux and Dublin).

Stay tuned for more.

SaaS and the Enterprise Customer RESCHEDULED

This event was a tough one to organize. The goal was to create an event centered around the decision making process of Enterprise Customers as they considered the impact of transitioning to a SaaS model inside the enterprise. The goal was to get one or two of the customers on the panel, and then build the response around their input.

Unfortunately, across the MassTLC SaaS advisory group looking for Enterprise Customers, as of two weeks before the event, we had not been able to come up with one Enterprise customer panelist. I'm sure there are many reasons for this, including perhaps:

• Customers are incredibly busy, and frequently targeted for their input. We had several top level executives that were booked out months in advance.
• The crisis in the financial service market had a very strong influence during the period in which we were contacting panelists. Capnetix' business is in the financial services marketplace, and executives needed to "man their posts" during the crisis, and not speak at industry events.
  
• Those that are actually in the decision making process may not want to make public their considerations, for one of many possible reasons, including being unsure, or feeling that they may lose something in negotiation position with a vendor.

I think for future events, it may be worthwhile to gather relationships with people before announcing events, and when you have enough to make a good event, then schedule it.

Lots to learn when things don't go off the way you planned. We had a full presentation planned, so perhaps we may downgrade to a Webinar, and have discussions among vendors.

It sure would be great to hear from the customers in a non-sales environment, to get their real input, so vendors can start to build that into their service programs _before_ the sales process begins.

SaaS and the Enterprise Customer

Mass Technology Leadership Council, SaaS Seminar

Wednesday October 22nd 2008, 8-10am (registration at 7:30)

SaaS and the Enterprise Customer

The evolution towards SaaS deployment of applications to end users has become well established in specific application areas on the edges of the enterprise.

What happens as corporate decision makers consider this trend as it applies to application deployment inside the enterprise itself? Economic advantages include lowering or eliminating capital expenditure for licenses, hardware, and installation, low or no cost upgrades, matching expense to revenue through “pay for what you use”, and overall reductions in IT costs. It also opens up new opportunities for outsourcing non-core competency business functions, with in-house and outsourced parties working on a central data set.

At the same time, the computing world inside the enterprise presents unique challenges, including integration between systems, trusting a vendor with the security of your data, and customizing applications for your company’s particular business practices.

Come join us for an open dialogue with industry experts who are involved with wrestling with these issues. Bring questions as we begin to explore this new area together. If you have specific questions that you would like to be considered in the forum, forward them ahead of time to cpeppler@capnetix.com.

As moderator of the discussion, Charlie Peppler brings 25 years of experience designing, developing, deploying, marketing and supporting mission critical enterprise information systems in multiple industries, including advanced manufacturing, biotech, and financial services. Charlie founded Capnetix, which is presently bringing to market “Fundix”, a SaaS based Transfer Agency solution for investment management and insurance firms, third party administrators and custodians. Capnetix is delivering Fundix on a SaaS 2.0 platform, designed specifically for deploying back office applications in the financial services industry.

Bill Gates: Businesses need to serve the poor.

I have a confession to make. For much of my career as a technologist, I held Bill Gates as someone to be endured, with him at the head of Microsoft's incredibly efficient monopoly over information systems.

I have come around. Bill has really showed a new side, with which I can very closely relate. Bill has been starting to take his influence, and point it in the direction that transcends the pure "monetary return" that many in the business world have proposed is the core value of business.

In this recent article, Bill has shown (and I wholeheartedly agree with him) that there is a larger purpose for business. It is possible to both make a profit and serve a greater good. If we are really good at what we do as a business, we can both serve our customer and make them pleased, and in turn receive revenue from that customer. If we can run our business such that our costs to deliver that service are lower than the revenue we receive, than we generate a profit. What if we were to split that profit? Some of the profit should stay with the company, in order to grow their impact to serve new customers. And some of it should be directed to help those who don't yet have the resources to help themselves.

This redirection could either be indirectly through funding of non-profits and donations. Others might be more direct. In the case of Capnetix, what would happen if we directed some of our development effort to building web based information utilities that would service those in poorer countries?