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.