Wealth management, brokers and Invu’s compliance role

We’re seeing some genuine demand amongst the broking, wealth management and investment communities right now. The latest editions of CIO & Computerworld magazines illustrate this with some PR around stockbrokers Redmayne Bentley’s adoption of Invu. The firm joins others such as Charles Stanley, Vestra Wealth and others in the broking sector. The driver here is not just enhanced efficiencies and cost savings but a strong compliance driver. Keeping pace with FSA obligations is a costly and potentially fraught experience with accurate and complete records an absolute requirement. This includes all client communication, transactions and proof of full diligence. For Redmayne Bentley the introduction of Invu has given peace of mind whilst also reducing costs through integration with existing stockbroking systems. Better access to client and transaction information has also improved service to clients.  With 30+ offices to keep onside Redmayne Bentley recognises the benefits of keeping its documentation secure and immediately accessible. It’s 30+ offices face stringent FSA compliance obligations and the wealth management firm has identified its reliance on paper documentation as an obstacle to efficiency and record keeping. We see this as a growth area, building on Invu’s already strong position in the insurance, IFA and accountancy sectors.

Computers and the internet are changing the nature of our memory, research in the journal Science suggests

There’s an interesting article on the BBC website about the way we think and remember information: http://tinyurl.com/6xyya3k . It seems that we’re changing and knowing how to find information is now more important to some of us than actually remembering facts. As levels of information multiply and technology makes it easier to find then maybe it’s logical that our behaviours should adapt. What is astonishing is how quickly this seems to be manifesting itself. It may well be a generational thing. If so, then reliance on technological methods of finding information will become more prevalent.

Nearer to home, this feels sensible. More and more we find that if we don’t know something we can hop onto a pc, tablet or mobile device and within seconds that elusive fact is there at our fingertips thanks to Google. It’s astonishingly liberating. Does this make one an expert? Of course not, but it certainly enables the curious mind. Taking the same principles, as data and documents expand at a seemingly exponential rate then document and content management tools become ever more important to the way we work. If we can lay our hands on information almost at a whim outside the work environment then surely we should expect the same capability for our business needs and behaviours. In fact, maybe even more so as deadlines and time pressures grow increasingly acute. Add in a bit of competitive pressure then access to all your information whenever you need it begins to seem like a necessity not an optional extra. Information trapped in paper documents, files, folders, emails, Word docs and pdfs shouldn’t be a barrier to future success, especially if we’re increasingly wired to work by reference rather than memory. 

Housing Associations under pressure

Housing Technology magazine publishes provides IT, Technology and Telecommunications news to 8,000+ business and technology strategy decision makers in the UK social housing sector and local government. Document Management continues to be a pragmatic solution in the HA space – in fact we’ve been delighted to work with around 40 HAs in increasing depth, making Invu an important presence. 

The July edition of the magazine includes a focus on the importance of getting the eDM decision right and deploying successfully. HAs are facing increasing demands with changes to funding, auditing and governance all eating into resources against a background of cost pressures and a focus on service levels. eDM is not a silver bullet but we’ve seen some genuinely impressive results even with tight budgets.  Find out more by reading the Do’s & Don’t White Paper at: 


http://www.invu.net/info/whitepapers.aspx


   

Printing can seriously harm your business’ health

We’re on our soap box today. With a sense of indignation we look at something so many organisations take for granted – the need to print. As more output is electronic and email the business communication medium du jour it seems odd that our addiction to print isn’t challenged more often and robustly. Part of this may be due to the fact that the addiction is fed by a print and copy industry which tells us we can do the same and more for less. But is this a self-serving message?

Invu publishes a new opinion paper which looks at document and content management in the context of printing. According to Gartner research, “the typical print costs for mid-market companies are around 1-3% of revenue (Gartner 'Managed services in Europe')”. Gartner’s Predict 2011 anticipates 20-30% industry growth in managed print services until 2014 – it’s clearly a profitable sector. But at who’s cost and benefit? Our printing polemic takes an alternative view and examine why you should begin slashing your print costs.

Download Printing can seriously harm your business’ health at:

http://www.invu.net/info/whitepapers.aspx