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Making Sense of the “Competitive Bid” Process
As a provider of technology solutions for financial services firms small and large nationwide, I frequently come in contact with investment firms of diverse dynamics and decision-making processes. I...
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In 2013, Certain Client Reports are Bound to Impress
In my role over the years as a designer and developer of client reporting packages for dozens of investment advisors, I typically work with decision-makers to facilitate the creation of new client...
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Planning for a Heart Attack
Quarter end reporting for Q4 2011 was a grueling task – one that still wasn’t completed for some firms in February of 2012. I am in touch with the operations staff of representative investment firms of...
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Prevent Network Cabling Nightmares
Over the years, I have seen a lot of first-rate cabling jobs done by true cabling professionals, but I am also surprised with the magnitude of shoddy work done by people claiming to be professionals....
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Creating the Right Benchmark for Your Portfolios
Reporting a portfolio’s comparative performance against representative benchmarks over various periods of time has been an widely implemented technique of investment advisors for decades. Firms do...
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2013 Technology Forecast: Partly Cloudy
Five to ten years ago, talking about Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products with my clients would have been a very short converstation: they simply weren’t interested. Today, however, the landscape has...
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Protecting Your Clients’ Security
In a day where security threats are constantly evolving and your business is reponsible for keeping confidential information secure, your clients’ computer systems may seem an unlikely place to prod...
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The Evolution of Investment Reporting
I have been talking about the evolution of investment reporting for years and telling anyone who would listen that their clients will soon have other investment reporting options. My dream or vision...
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End Nearing for Some Microsoft Systems
Windows XP was a mainstay at many financial services firms for nearly a decade. In keeping with the Microsoft Lifecycle Support Policy, support for Windows XP and similar aged software must eventually...
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Time is Running Out!
Around this same time last year, many of us said our final goodbyes to Windows XP and Exchange 2003. This year, Microsoft’s latest End-Of-Life (EOL) event – along with good sense – will force most of...
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Tune Up Your Axys Engines with Five Performance Enhancing Tips
Unless your computer systems have been severely neglected, the time required to run Axys reports on any given day is unlikely to disappoint most users. Axys taps data and produces most de facto reports...
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Meet the Technology Challenges of Compliance at Your Firm Head-on
Compliance demands vis‐à‐vis the SEC, Gramm‐Leach Bliley, and most recently emerging local regulations like Massachusetts 201 CMR 17.00, require a significant investment of resources in terms of both...
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Is It Time to Upgrade IT?
Today, a trip to your local computer store to buy a new PC can be an eye-opening experience. Notebooks, for example, come in many shapes and sizes: desktop replacement, notebook, sub-notebook, and...
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Start Working on Your Next Generation of Client Reports Today
In an earlier blog I emphasized the importance of mainstream client reporting. As investment professionals once again turn to the dreaded task of busily cranking out their quarterly reports, it is...
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Technical Trials and Tribulations of Quarter End
Yesterday, I fielded a call from one of our clients that generates reports for several thousand accounts using our reporting engine. As part of their reporting process, they extract data from Axys and...
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The Best Time to Upgrade Your Portfolio Accounting System
Though an increasing number of firms pride themselves on their ability to fire out reports within the first week of the quarter, it seems that most firms still produce and mail out their statements in...
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Is Your Most Valuable Data Safe in the Cloud?
I’ll admit that I worry about my data. I have a plethora of backups for personal and business reasons, but I’m still concerned that everything may not be backed up and organized as it should be to...
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10 Things Every IT Manager Needs to Know
I just received an ad for “500 Things Every IT Manager Needs to Know: Volume 1.” I am sure there are 500 things, but none of the IT managers I know have the time to read about all of them. Maybe...
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Advent Announces Sunset of Support for Axys 3.5.1 and 3.6
As more and more companies embrace Windows 7 as their new desktop standard, they are faced with the difficulties of getting Axys 3.x to run in a mixed environment of XP, Windows 7 and terminal server....
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Bringing Axys Back to Life
With my long-standing history as a seasoned and impartial technology consultant catering to the wide-ranging needs of Advent users, it should come as no surprise that companies that have moved away...
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The Rackspace Blues: A Cautionary Tale
“What we have here is a failure to communicate.” -Captain Rackspace played an important role in part of the tech stack I implemented for many of my IT customers for nearly ten years. We started...
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Advent’s Worst Enemy?
I have said it before, and I’ll say it again: if Advent does well, it follows that someone like me should do well, too. I profit directly from Advent customers when they hire me, and indirectly when...
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