How many enterprise software tools does your asset management firm use?
Whether it’s two or ten, we’re willing to bet that, if your setup involves multiple systems made by different vendors, it’s probably causing more problems than it solves.
Maintaining several different enterprise software tools is resource-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive.
More to the point, even with integrations in place that enable them to talk to each other, storing your data in a patchwork of tools creates an environment where many common issues can develop: fragmentation, duplication, inaccuracies, lack of visibility, and lack of accountability.
In this post, we’ll make the case for sticking to one specialised, end-to-end platform and show you why consolidating enterprise systems — particularly those that handle closely related or interdependent processes — might be one of the smartest moves you’ll ever make.
One single, trusted source of data
The single biggest reason to consolidate enterprise systems is that it enables you to create a golden source of truth: a centralised repository of data from across your organisation.
Storing all your data in one place has two compelling benefits.
First, it gives you greater visibility and transparency.
Forrester reckons that as much as 73% of the data within an organisation goes unused, costing billions in lost revenue. Being able to access everything from one unified interface means any team — whether it’s treasury, the trading desk, compliance, or another back-office function — can put this previously untapped data to work, and, so, make decisions safe in the knowledge they haven’t overlooked critical dependencies or trends.
Second, it’s more efficient for everyone.
Any staff member with the right authorisation level can access the data they need in a few clicks, instead of spending days or weeks tracking it down. And, because different teams no longer work in isolation, there’s less risk of duplication and a more streamlined workflow, which improves productivity.
For example, because our launch module Fundi Workflow pulls information from and works with our other modules — Fundi Data Management and Fundi Compliance — it cuts the time it takes to launch new products by an average of 31%.
Similarly, using a single unified platform can slash the time it takes to generate reports and other documents by up to 60%.
Keeping risk in check
Because running multiple systems means your data is inherently fragmented, there are significant risks to your organisation.
To begin with, every platform has its own unique rules on everything from file-naming conventions to access privileges and storage. At best, this can cause inconsistencies and, at worst, critical gaps.
For example, one third-party software vendor we worked with automatically deleted the data it received if this data wasn’t updated within a specified period. The data had to be updated regularly even if nothing had changed, which created a huge amount of manual admin for clients and undermined trust in the completeness of the data.
More significantly, when an organisation’s data management procedures don’t follow common standards, it creates serious governance issues.
In the course of our work, for instance, we often find that there’s little that people in data governance or data quality roles can do to solve the errors, inconsistencies, and other data sourcing, integrity, or accuracy problems that inevitably arise when you transfer data from one platform to another.
In most cases, they don’t own the data, nor control its source or how it has been maintained, even though the issues are landing on their desks.
In comparison, a consolidated system makes it easier to oversee the data that flows through your organisation and ensure its quality.
Case in point, once you set up our core module Fundi Data Management, the system acts as a first responder, alerting you about any inaccuracies or out-of-date or corrupt data in your sources.
You can also create an audit trail that shows you how data has changed over time and who has changed it, which keeps everyone accountable.
Scale up your systems without scaling your outlay
Deloitte expects asset managers to collectively spend $84 billion (around £70 billion) on new technology by the end of 2023, with the biggest spenders setting aside as much as 12% of their overall budgets.
But while greater technology spending is undoubtedly a good thing, given how far asset managers lag behind other industries — in 2021, only 8% had fully migrated to the cloud, for instance — a high price tag isn’t necessarily a sign of quality.
Using a single enterprise platform from a specialised vendor can significantly decrease the cost of maintaining your tech stack while potentially leading to better outcomes.
To begin with, from a technical point of view, there’s no need to set up complex custom integrations or connect APIs — APIs which the vendor needs to continually maintain and update.
It’s also easier and quicker to scale one system up or down in response to changing needs, than it is when you’re using several platforms from different vendors. The latter requires careful orchestration, and not all vendors will offer the same level of customisation and flexibility.
But the benefits are also undeniable from a purely administrative point of view.
You deal with only one vendor, which means one subscription fee, one contract, and one point of contact for service level agreements, troubleshooting, and all the other issues that might crop up.
It’s also cheaper to train staff on a single platform, even when that platform is made up of several different modules. The overall interface will be the same, which lowers the learning curve.
Get more out of your data with a simpler tech stack
Accenture’s The power of data-driven asset management report argues it’s high time asset managers completely overhauled their data management processes.
Firms, they note, struggle with every aspect of data. There’s fragmentation — or, as they call it, ‘disparate versions of “the truth“‘ — way too many data sources, poor governance, and, unsurprisingly, ballooning costs.
Well, what if the solution to these issues weren’t more tech, but simply choosing the right tech?
Ultimately, any piece of tech’s success or failure depends on whether it solves your issues in the long term.
Working with one specialised enterprise software vendor can help you focus on what matters — addressing the root causes of your data problems in a way that makes sense for your organisation — without getting lost in needless complexity or letting costs (and admin) spiral out of control.
Fundipedia’s end-to-end data management platform helps you take charge of every aspect of the data that flows through your organisation — from initial sourcing to reporting and reconciliation.