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NAIFA Moves Its ERP to the Cloud with Sage Intacct
Learn how NAIFA supports its 90 chapters across America with Sage Intacct in the cloud, providing improved access and data security, and better financial reporting and insights.
NAIFA moves its ERP to the cloud with Sage Intacct to unite multi-entity accounting processes and better serve its chapters.In this case study:
Client: National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors
Industry: Financial Services
Products and Services: Sage Intacct, Migrating from local servers to the cloud, Security improvements, Licensing, Reporting and insights
Country: USA
“Our Quisitive consultant played a key role in helping us to rebuild our accounting processes to accommodate the new realities of our business. They worked to learn about our individual needs and how we work and helped us take our vision and make it a reality in Sage Intacct.”
Vice President of Finance, NAIFA
About NAIFA
The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) was established in 1890 in Boston. Since then, it has been delivering on its mission to advocate for a positive legislative and regulatory environment, enhance business and professional skills, and promote the ethical conduct of its members. As a proactive and dynamic organization, NAIFA empowers new services for its members whenever possible. But with nearly a hundred chapters spanning 50 states and over 40,000 members, things can get complicated.
The Need for a Cloud ERP and Accounting System
In 2018, NAIFA began offering association management services for its 90 chapters across the country, including much-needed accounting services. NAIFA knew that this new service offering could not be supported by its existing accounting platforms. The organization’s structure was already highly complex, with foundations and PACs not only at the national level but also run by many branches. This new service offering meant they had to find a new solution to accommodate the existing customizations and new scale needed to serve its members properly.
The organization’s leadership board was also pushing to migrate all business systems to the cloud. NAIFA’s existing platform was deployed on-premise, meaning users could only access the system using a VPN connection. Meanwhile, staff were using Sage 50, also installed on-premise on a local server. Security was a concern, and upgrades were becoming problematic. NAIFA knew that to support members with effective and secure accounting services, it needed to migrate its accounting platform to the cloud.
NAIFA had been working with Quisitive as a partner to support their Dynamics SL solution and knew that Quisitive was also an experienced partner across many ERP cloud platforms, including Dynamics Business Central and Sage Intacct. Staff were hearing great things about Sage Intacct as a solution for multi-entity accounting management and reached out to Quisitive to help them get started.
Rebuilding in the Cloud
NAIFA’s team approached the migration as an opportunity to review and optimize its accounting structure and processes. NAIFA’s team wanted to completely change their approach to accommodate the new reality of their organization, and this was the perfect time to evaluate what was working and what would be needed to accommodate the new multi-entity accounting services model they were striving to achieve.
The Impact
Redesigning their accounting system from the ground up with Sage Intacct and Quisitive was a significant project, but it also presented NAIFA with a range of new opportunities to streamline processes and realize substantial results.
Uniform Chart of Accounts
One of the accounting team’s major needs was preparing a uniform chart of accounts. NAIFA’s increasing organizational complexity included four entities at the national level and almost a hundred branches, each with sub-entities of their own. Seeing the big picture for the organization’s finances was tremendously important. With the new chart of accounts in Sage Intacct, they can now create consolidated financial statements and view organization results in one place—which is a major strategic win for the organization.
Better Tracking of Finances
Consolidating the financial systems across the organization dramatically improved how the accounting groups could work and collaborate. The national office has been able to do more to help chapters, with both sides having more visibility into each other’s accounting. More complex invoicing and charging across the organization is also now possible, enabling the accounting team to track finances with greater precision.
Improved Financial Insights
Another significant benefit of using Sage Intacct is the reporting, dashboards, and insights that NAIFA has been able to leverage. Department heads can now clearly see critical financial metrics and reports on an ongoing basis and quickly drill down to the details they need for tracking and decision-making. They no longer need to navigate through and interpret a large, complex, and sometimes confusing spreadsheet to get information.
Improved Access to Financials
The move to a Cloud ERP also had some expected advantages. As 2020 progressed and the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of virtual work, the growing NAIFA financial team was operating more and more remotely. Sage Intacct’s consolidated reporting and ability to maintain all entities in one environment online with 24-7 access have been highly valuable and set NAIFA apart in its ability to support chapters.
With these benefits, NAIFA’s move to the cloud is considered a major success across the organization.
“Quisitive knows Cloud-ERP and helped us smoothly migrate complex multi-entity accounting processes to Sage Intacct. We couldn’t be happier with the results and benefits we are seeing.”
Vice President of Finance, NAIFA
A Better Way Forward
NAIFA’s move to the cloud-based Sage Intacct platform was a significant win. It enables their staff to leverage accounting data from any location and manage all their entities in one system. The organization no longer has to budget for and manage upgrades or worry about critical data security threats of disparate on-premise systems.
Innovative and fresh possibilities are already appearing with Sage Intacct at NAIFA. Having all financial data available in one place enables a much more detailed understanding of the operations of individual chapters and helps leadership navigate precarious times with greater agility. NAIFA plans to leverage Intacct’s budgeting capabilities in the future to provide a standard financial statement for each chapter and recommendations for their financing and budgeting.
CFOs and finance teams always need to be ready for disruptions. And during this time of economic uncertainty, they need a clear vision for how to move forward to ensure financial success in 2023 and beyond. As a result, digital transformation in finance is more important than ever.
The modern CFO is expected to lead their organization and teams toward digital transformation, increased client satisfaction, and retention, and boosted revenue streams through in-depth insights and data analysis. That’s why they are looking at methods to increase efficiency through technological advancements and automation, decrease costs and resource overheads, and reduce the impact of uncertainties on the business.
To help CFOs and finance leaders prepare, we have noted our top 4 focal points for the year ahead:
1. Cloud Integration & Digital Transformation in Finance
CFOs should plan to maintain or increase their investments in digital transformation for finance teams. As ERPs and other enterprise systems continue to integrate with cloud technologies, this progress has significantly simplified business operations and freed up resources across teams. As economic uncertainty becomes more plausible, finance leaders will be expected to direct more budget toward planning and forecasting measures, so it’s important to be prepared with the right technologies in place.
2. Timely Financial and Business Insights
Finance teams will be expected to provide crucial business insights in a timelier fashion. As many organizations work within multiple ERPs and data sources, many lack a single integrated source to house and process key information. Without a comprehensive and unified finance and budgeting solution, teams will struggle to provide the quick and insightful analyses needed to navigate the business in times of volatility.
3. Demand for Real-Time Reporting
With digital transformation in finance comes improved analytics capabilities. Periodic reporting schedules have been the norm within industry practices, but as cloud technology has made real-time reporting more feasible, it has become the preferred reporting method. Modern technology has enabled organizations to cut reporting times and deliver faster results, given this, CFOs and finance teams are expected to produce forecasts and actuals on-demand, and shift away from outdated solutions and processes in favor of real-time financial reporting.
4. Increased Agility
With the rising impact of inflation and a recession becoming more probable. Businesses must have plans and resources well in place to respond to the potential economic downturn. By adopting agile solutions and xP&A, organizations can leverage scenario-based planning and forecasting and be better prepared for the best- and worst-case economic scenarios.
Digital transformation and innovation have empowered finance teams to be more agile, provide fast and accurate reporting and make better use of vital resources, in our time of economic uncertainty and the looming potential of a recession soon approaching, budgeting and planning have become more important than ever before. Having the right technology and tools in place will ensure that your organization is prepared for whatever comes next.
Ready to Transform Your Budgeting & Planning? We Can Help
Quisitive can help with digital transformation for finance. With over 30 years of experience helping companies implement and optimize corporate performance management software, our team of experts is here to help analyze your existing processes and recommend the right solution to meet your needs.
It is difficult to fathom how much has occurred since my last post, but the world has entered a deeper state of uncertainty since then. Banks and other financial institutions sit at the heart of global responses to threats, thus strengthening the position of my last post where we discussed M&A but most importantly, Security.
In as little as four weeks, sudden threats of retaliatory nature, like DDoS attacks, have risen, putting Banks on high alert. Two weeks ago, the European Central Bank issued a warning to shore up defensive measures putting all Western institutions at risk of increased cyber-attacks. Quisitive will remain at the forefront of security with our customers and are prepared to assist with any vulnerability recognized through such unprecedented times.
Top Banking Trends of 2022
- Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation
- Fintech Mergers and Acquisitions
- Cost Cutting and Optimization
- Data Analysis and Organization Insights Activation
Today, I will expand on the movements of Cost Cutting and Optimization, Data Analysis, and Organization Insights Activation. Quisitive aims to engage and influence technologies that tell a cohesive story for innovation and overall positive change. These two trends continue to grow in general importance as prices go up and the competitive market increases its demands.
Cost Cutting and Optimization
Amid high M&A activity and an ongoing need to simplify core technologies, banks are looking to firms like Quisitive to bring in-depth experience and capability to help drive modernization. Due to these core technology estates being so vast, multiple efforts consisting of various teams are taking on this initiative while focusing on the themes of cost-cutting and optimization.
We often hear, “How can we maintain or increase performance while also becoming more lean and agile?” At Quisitive, we focus on composability and interoperability to observe the core technology systems across the paradigm of people, process, and technology. We succeed by establishing and then executing plans that design the exemplary architecture — including PaaS technologies to achieve a more modular state — and transforming the bank away from operating in a siloed manner and more towards managing horizontally. This process of working as a connected system results in cost-cutting and optimization.
Quisitive partners closely with Microsoft to kickstart the cloud transformation journey for our customers. By way of funded offerings, our team of experts will work with you to determine the appropriate path to take in your journey. These engagements can be as small as focusing on one category of workload/application or as big as concentrating on your entire estate. Through this process, customers have aligned to their appropriate starting point with critical milestones outlined along the way. Having a baseline that includes people, process, technology and KPIs provides all levels of the organization the ability to know when and how the journey will be executed, paving the path for an eventual starting point.
Through our experience, cost-cutting and optimizing core technologies will be a priority for mid-size banks. These are the banks fighting for a position to be the next Giant. A large part of that means staying up with trends and ensuring operational efficiency, especially through the course of M&A. These banks cannot afford to have as much environmental sprawl, and budgets are less friendly towards workloads that cause excessive overhead or have reached a point where they should be deprecated.
In partnership with Microsoft, Quisitive has the skills and experience to establish a plan and start you down this path of optimization.
Data Analysis and Organization Insights Activation
In our experience, customers continue to struggle from sprawled environments. Many customers approach us, stating, “We have every data platform and product under the sun of the last 15 years,” and are eager to consolidate those footprints into a more modern solution. In addition, we rarely experience customers who have tapped into the potential of the stockpiles of data and information they own.
As a result, Quisitive recognizes the potential gains customers can realize in this space which is why data will continue to be a bank’s internal currency for driving insights into strategy and its future. Mid-size banks especially need to keep a constant eye on operational efficiency, which results in better consumer interactions and satisfaction. The entire organization is impacted, but here are some critical areas where our customers have started:
- Financial fraud prevention by way of predictive modeling, coupled with our Security practice (Part 1 of Blog)
- Increased operational efficiency by way of combining disparate data and introducing automation
- Loan Management Process by way of customer insights and modeling impacting the customer through their entire customer lifecycle
- Branch operations by way of time series forecasting and operational insights, especially in light of more and more customer interactions happening remotely
Quisitive has been hard at work, gathering experience and building on our capabilities in the area of Data and Analytics more than any other. With an already mature model for onboarding our customers onto Synapse and/or Data Bricks-driven platforms, our recent acquisition of Catapult Systems took our collaborative practice to the next level. Leveraging a proven engagement model, we help clients design, deploy, and maintain statistical and machine learning models that lead to measurable, positive business outcomes while being secure and responsible and minimizing risk. The ability to deliver such an end-to-end experience is a unique differentiator in the Microsoft partner ecosystem, and we expect it will drive a deeper customer relationship in the future.
Conclusion
There is much to be excited about as we further venture into 2022. The world has experienced a tremendous amount of change over the past several years, and the banking industry will continue to see increased threats. The global banking industry is up against never-before-seen disruptors from pushes towards decentralization, the payment services revolution, inflation, and more. It will be interesting to observe the impact of rising interest rates, but within these variables at play, the priorities identified in this two-part series will remain critical.
Looking to optimize costs and improve your data practices? Contact Quisitive today.
The last three years and the impact that unpredictable events have had on the world, businesses and individuals has taught us how quickly the world can change. For better or for worse, only time will tell. But these changes impact the way we observe and prioritize industry trends. Today, I’d like to dive into how financial institutions have been affected and what we can expect from Banking in 2022.
Quisitive has been actively engaged within the Banking Industry for over three years, and our team of aligned industry experts is predicting a seismic shift that will both define the industry as a whole and the successes of individual corporations. We welcome the opportunity to be engrained with our customers as their strategic partner in all things innovation across all of Microsoft’s cloud platforms. We have taken the opportunity to define playbooks and winning strategies through our experiences across the full spectrum of Banking. Here are a few of the trends we’ve identified for Banking in 2022.
Top Trends for Banking in 2022
- Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation
- Fintech Mergers and Acquisitions
- Cost Cutting and Optimization
- Data Analysis and Organization Insights Activation
In this blog, we’ll discuss Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation and Fintech Mergers and Acquisitions.
1. Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation
Whether you have experienced it firsthand or seen it on the news, you’ve likely noticed a common trend with security and vulnerability in business. Banking has been at the tip of the spear for driving innovation and investing into the areas of cybersecurity, but with the onset of COVID-19, a shift occurred faster than corporations could react. This often resulted in some level of exposure.
The immediate need to activate a remote work experience, outsourcing of technologies (ex. SaaS), M&A, etc., opened channels of access for bad actors to expose risk. As COVID-19 took its course, the pace that had been set by corporations accelerated backlogs and priorities, thus changing the status quo of operations. This sudden shift has been directly linked to an increasing volume of ransomware and cyberattacks, and bad actors continue to look for any and every opportunity to find exposure in current cybersecurity models. While the response has been admirable by organizational leaders, the challenge that lies ahead is undeniable as the landscape’s complexity multiplies at exceptional rates.
In light of these events, Quisitive is responding. In late 2021, Quisitive acquired Catapult Systems and developed a security practice and product (Spyglass) to help organizations further fortify their customer footprint in Azure. Quisitive and Catapult augment each other well which has led to an immediate integration of capabilities in the Azure space, including security and Spyglass.
As many banks have broached the conversation of security with us, we solution by proposing Spyglass’s abilities to offer a more holistic view of a customer’s entire environment, displayed through a dashboard experience on Microsoft’s PowerBI. We then support those findings by offering security coaching and advisership through our team that embodies decades of industry experience. Like all things we observe within the Financial Services industry, we consider the best solutions to follow the paradigm of People, Process, and Technology (Discussed in my previous blog: Breaking Down Silos in Insurance – Quisitive).
To bring the paradigm of People, Process, and Technology full circle, Quisitive encourages the focus on establishing a robust corporate data governance strategy that must have support from the very top. Data governance includes everything from regulatory compliances to corporate policies and protocols, which must be governed and managed for customers, employees, vendors, and more. Quisitive brings an IP-Driven experience and playbook to help shape and drive a renewed strategy for data governance, leveraging products like Spyglass and our consultants to position banks for long-term sustainability and protection.
To help launch this offering and spread awareness, Quisitive is offering a paid-for assessment in partnership with Microsoft. This engagement outlines current gaps and vulnerabilities, gives hands-on experience with Spyglass, and exits with a plan to extend the partnership through a series of roadmap recommendations.
2. FinTech Mergers and Acquisitions
Over the past decade, we have witnessed the birth and maturation of Fintech companies which are highly specialized and nimble in comparison to the corporate giants that have dominated the banking landscape historically. These giants move at a slower pace, however, they have the financial means to invest capital in areas of organizational growth, whereas a mid-size or small bank may not have the financial ability or risk tolerance to develop their capabilities at scale. On top of that, current economic uncertainty, low-interest rates, and an increase in liquidity and credit losses are forming a gap that will dictate the course of survival in the coming years.
As an immediate step to mitigate this threat, we have observed a significant spike in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). With the integration of these new companies, new growth will be introduced hand-in-hand with new capabilities which will launch some mid-size banks to become the next generation of giants, while others will fade away.
As it appears M&A activity will not be slowing down anytime soon, Quisitive responded by dedicating a practice to ensure a seamless integration experience for our customers. Quisitive embraces M&A and identifies it as a key opportunity to reinforce a holistic solution, following people, process, technology, and now solution assets. We have witnessed companies broach the conversation of M&A in many different forms and while companies look at integration activities as a hassle, workarounds are not sufficient and eventually arrive at an inflection point that calls for a top-down decision.
Quisitive invested to develop a playbook and execution strategy that combines the best of technologies and organizational change management to quickly address this issue for our customers. Bringing the right tools, expertise, and consultants to the conversation allows for the integration of Azure, M365, and Dynamics 365 to occur seamlessly and in a time-efficient manner. Quisitive has gone on to capture our experiences through a series of blogs which you can find here:
- What to Expect When Doing A Tenant to Tenant Migration: Pre-Migration (quisitive.com)
- Tenant to Tenant Migration Part 2: Challenges during migration (quisitive.com)
- Tenant to Tenant Migration Part 3: Post-Migration Considerations (quisitive.com)
- Tenant-to-Tenant Migrations: Non-Technology Factors | Quisitive
To help launch our answer for this trend and ongoing need, Quisitive invests in pre-sales activities to run a series of tools against your environment to set baselines and expectations. We use these baseline metrics to inform the total estimated effort and guide necessary engagement activities.
Conclusion
Both Cybersecurity and M&A demands continue to increase. The need for a strategic partner to help kickstart the future platforms of security or integration of other firms will continue to be there. At Quisitive, we can provide an experience tied with Microsoft that will result in the betterment of your company now and in the future. We are proud to have such unique industry-driven talents and that we can deliver solutions that offer long-term safety and competitiveness to your organization.
Contact us to learn more about how Quisitive can help.
Stay tuned!
In Part 2 of this blog, I will dive into our next 2 trends for Banking in 2022: Cost Cutting and Optimization and Data Analysis and Organization Insights Activation. We’ll explore specific examples that will align you to our corporate strategy for banking and serve as grounds to activate our partnership.
Digital innovation and transformation have been booming left and right. We’re making our way towards a more efficient, agile and sustainable future that’s powered by technology. The last year has fast-tracked these changes, and as they progress, it’s important that we keep up. This past year, Microsoft’s Industry Cloud offerings have expanded to meet industry needs head-on. Here’s a look into what’s new, and how these new clouds can take organizations to the next level.
Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services
- Modernize core banking services
- Develop deep analytics
- Enable new ways to reach customers
Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing
- Secure remote work and the safety of frontline workers
- Create more resilient supply chains
- Enable always-on service
Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit
- Utilize a connected intelligent platform that allows staff and volunteers to focus on their mission
- Connect with constituent engagement, program design and delivery, volunteer management, and fundraising
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare
- Automation and efficiency on high-value workflows
- Deep data analysis functionality for both structured and unstructured data
- Now including virtual health, remote patient monitoring, care coordination and patient self-service, and support for eight new languages
Microsoft Cloud for Retail
- Connect the end-to-end shopper journey
- Improve operations, sales, and customer service
What’s unique about these offerings?
These new clouds, as well as the cloud offerings Microsoft has already provided, will be able to work either independently or together depending on the organization. They allow for customization and seamless integration with endless possibilities.
Microsoft has a wide range of partners that are leaders in every industry. Customers have access to hundreds of thousands of solutions, making it possible for each organization to find a solution that can tailor to their specific needs and challenges.
Learn more in Microsoft’s blog: https://blogs.partner.microsoft.com/mpn/give-customers-an-edge-with-new-microsoft-industry-clouds/
In my last blog, I outlined one of the critical areas banks are looking to drive transformation for document processing, specifically within custom Loan Document Management platforms. Through the course of leveraging Quisitive’s Application Modernization practice and adopting as-a-service technologies, our customers have found themselves in an accelerated transformative journey that is leading the charge to become a data-driven organization.
This next iteration will extend similar principles but apply them to the Insurance industry, where I have witnessed the urgent need to revisit the connective tissue that lies in-between ultra siloed lines of business.
At Quisitive, we take the approach of delivering experiences rather than providing point solutions. There is an art to driving impactful change, so we have derived a framework to maximize results. By considering the bigger picture, you combine the powers of IT and the business to inaugurate transformation and illuminate the benefits stemming from an investment.
To start, I want to outline Quisitive’s framework on the three areas of focus in 2021 and 2022 for driving change in Financial Services. Our three priority scenarios for success represent the pillars of our experience to both IT and the business.
1. Modernize Applications
Quisitive simplifies this complex task using our On-Ramp to Application Modernization (ORTAM) engine that first rationalizes and establishes readiness, followed by detailed architecture design for as-a-service technologies. Quisitive has in-depth expertise for both Azure Native and Open Source solutions.
2. Activate actionable insights with data and advanced analytics
Harness application transaction data to develop models and analytics, which in turn help inform data-driven business decisions and actions
3. Connect the organization and improve employee productivity
Strengthen the connective tissue or processes that hold the fabric of an organization in place by increasing the share of information and preparedness of employees.
These three priority scenarios rely on our Cloud Center of Excellence (CCOE) engagement model, which focuses on people, processes, and technology. The CCOE establishes dual ownership between the customer and Quisitive and allows for more inclusive organizational change, which guides the identification of use cases and success plans both top-down and bottom-up within.
Today, many of our customers don’t know where to begin and are often only thinking in the context of cost/ROI and time to implementation.
While those are key considerations, the experience of the CCOE Framework maximizes investment, visibility, and effectiveness across a company, delivering material change.
Through our experience, very few Insurance companies have taken strides to align to a similar framework and begin the transformation journey. COVID-19 was an unexpected kicker for accelerating lingering technology priorities. However, as the bigger picture was considered and discussed in proactive planning sessions, the need to drive digital change was accepted organization-wide. This realization lies on the shoulders of increasing customer demands and competition. Legacy systems are getting older, data pile up, and the investment for alternatives is becoming too great.
To that point, here are a handful of challenges our customers are sharing:
- An increasing gap of legacy system knowledge or employee capacity
- Increasing attrition of domain knowledge employees creating churn
- Unsustainable expenses due to legacy system maintenance and overhead
- Disparate data, organization-wide, pilling up with no strategy to leverage
- Costly process errors via manually addressed tasks
- Poor distribution of real-time data across the organization
- Lack of technology share and knowledge from IT to the business
Quisitive’s most successful use cases have leveraged the mentioned model as a means to drive the right solution for our Insurance customers. For example, if you take the claims office, it serves as a revenue center and is often the heartbeat for Insurance organizations. Call centers associated with Claims are, in fact, the very first point of contact for many policyholders to use their service(s). Claims offices sit in the middle office but have many connections to the front and back via people, processes, and technology.
Quisitive observes and engages the Claims office by looking at the end-to-end process of analyzing logic and workflows to accomplish a set of tasks. Once understood and triaged based on the challenges and pain points collectively agreed to, we match the technology and establish roadmaps to execute the envisioned future state. Opportunities come in many forms from this point and have unfolded based on our established model.
1. Modernize Applications
Within the Claims function, a series of applications greatly benefit from modernization (re-write, re-factor, or re-host). By adopting modular-based architectures built on microservices, organizations gain unprecedented benefits in efficiency, performance, and scalability, which drive down costs and allows for new feature sets and functionally to be delivered at light speed. While the modernization lies within the back office, the new features and ability to maintain uptime in peak periods will impact the middle and front offices to enhance employee and policyholder satisfaction.
2. Activate actionable insights with data and advanced analytics
As organizations modernize applications, the use of data generated from those applications via transactions becomes a priority. With more applications integrated into a modern cloud architecture, data can be harnessed in a data warehouse or data lake, resulting in better visibility and data quality to initiate an end-to-end data strategy. For the Claims department, establishing an official automation program helps reduce overall expenses by reducing errors and allowing employees more value-added activities. These solutions also impact policyholders by enabling real-time or even proactive assistance in times of need. Solutions such as cognitive document management and intelligent automation will define the new standard for business operations and will become an extension of the overall CCOE approach.
3. Connect the organization and improve employee productivity
Once the data is actionable, leveraging robotic process automation, chatbots, and other advanced tools, Quisitive leverages the Microsoft Modern Workplace experience to connect the organization and make information more visible. The movement of information helps front-line agents or call center employees to know their customers and provide less and more impactful touchpoints. At Quisitive, we have enabled technology from the back office to the front office using M365, Teams, PowerApps, Dynamics, and more.
To sum this model up, Quisitive is the solution to be a force multiplier by following our framework and aligning with people, processes, and technology. A CCOE approach can be taken organization-wide or can be done on a team by team basis to formulate a consortium based on a digital transformative culture. It is on this track that Insurance companies will revolutionize incrementally and maintain competitive superiority in their high demanding strenuous markets.
Interested in learning more about how Quisitive can help your organization? Contact us today.
The year 2020 brought on extreme change, and banks had to advance their schedules for implementing technical solutions that extended their reach while maintaining customer satisfaction. A sudden and unexpected need for change in the face of COVID-19 occurred in the middle of what has been deemed the decade of the digital revolution. While financial services companies categorically were among the most prepared to address such demands, the need to differentiate and personalize the consumer experience continues to grow exponentially. With more competition surfacing daily, banks are in dire need of speed and accuracy to ensure a flawless consumer experience, resulting in loyalty. The bottleneck in this system comes by way of documentation and the amount that needs identifying, processing, and taken to action, every second.
As a self-user of several banking platforms, I can say firsthand that I expect a quick experience, without error, every time I visit my banking app or engage in a loan. In some respects, I blame being a millennial. Still, as Gen Z has also expressed impatience and experience-driven behavior, it is clear that the demand for promptness and accuracy will not go away. On top of that, regardless of generation, consumers expect a personalized experience more and more each day, causing banks to rethink their strategy for productivity, operations, and service.
It is no mistake that when such needs surface and become high in demand, technology and document processing meet face to face at the intersection of high-tech transformation. Microsoft has invested billions of dollars in ramping up its capabilities in the areas of Cloud Services, and with that have come solutions such as Azure Synapse, Azure Form Recognizer, Cognitive Search, OCR Digitization, Automated Document Classification, and more. The power of AI and Machine Learning lies at the center of these solutions. They maximize the potential for addressing such demands while taking the bank’s processes out of team member’s hands and putting them directly in front of the consumer in a productive manner.
If you take a moment to understand and respect the amount of documentation that flows through a bank daily, let alone through one interaction, it is daunting. Document types include anything from KYC documentation to loan agreement forms, banknotes, bank statements, credit reports — The list goes on and on. The tricky part is not necessarily in the documentation itself but rather the interaction required between institutions to come together and form a product that fulfills a request. Each institution has its way of structuring forms and information. When you couple that with the amount of data flowing in and out, you quickly find yourself in a heap of unstructured data, slowing down the process. Combining the power of Microsoft technologies and Quisitive’s experience in delivering transformative solutions has put us at the forefront of high-tech innovation within financial services.
Loan Document Management (LDM) for Financial Services
I have been fortunate to cover the Banking Industry for Quisitive when so much change has taken place. There has been much to learn, but it has been clear that the need to address the document dilemma grows every day. One everyday use case we have engaged in the most is Loan Document Management (LDM). LDM not only encompasses the technology highlighted above to help streamline operations but includes the end-to-end platform for loan generation, verification, processing, issuing, and storing. Lenders service one of the highest in transaction loads, and for some of our nation’s largest loan lenders, these platforms are the heart and soul of their organization and serve as the backbone for all transactions. Any skip of a beat can result in thousands and up to millions in losses. Failure is not acceptable, and in cases where there are hiccups, millions in losses are incurred. Having now provided solutions for several LDM systems, we at Quisitive have the opportunity to bring our complete set of capabilities to the table, delivering a modern or reimagined approach for LDM design, implementation, and execution.
One key takeaway from our experience has been that every company has a custom solution to Loan Document Management. These systems are comprised of multiple applications and services built many years ago and have been slowly iterated on through the years by application development teams. The pain points remain consistent as these, now legacy platforms, are clunky and require an extensive backend infrastructure estate to maintain. Companies feel the pain of maintaining cost efficiency with any such environment as they are constantly up against hardware refreshes, maintenance, and expansion. With legacy backend environments come legacy processes that hinder the bank’s ability to have continuous deployment and integration, thus impacting their constant improvement. Among these pain points are the legacy solutions for loosely automating document dealing. Quisitive provides point solutions and innovates via AI, Machine Learning, and Cognitive Services to transform the business by providing what we have already reimagined for our customers.
By way of Quisitive’s Financial Services defined strategy for delivering a synergistic experience, LDM’s tell the whole story. Modernizing onto as-a-service platforms, adopting event-driven architectures, enabling insights through the power of data and analytics, and delivering information to front-line workers streamlines operations and creates a modern and seamless experience. To tie in the document dilemma to this use case, the high-tech solutions that exist for quickly identifying, parsing, and aggregating data from documents, transform the archaic experience of document management into a modern experience that follows the synergistic flow Quisitive provides. The information is now quickly accessible, does not exist in disparate systems (data that often goes lost), and most importantly, allows bank employees to focus on the data itself to create a value-added consumer experience in every touchpoint. Simply by removing the process from employees’ hands, banks find themselves with fewer errors leading to more reliability and more informed consumer interaction. Human error alone accounts for substantial losses, so taking advantage of high-tech automation and solutions directly impacts the bottom line for the better. Through this adoption, banks are finding themselves two steps ahead of their consumers, which creates a best-case experience internally and externally with modern appeal.
Interested in learning more? Contact us to connect with one of our experts.
TORONTO, Dec. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ – Quisitive Technology Solutions Inc. (“Quisitive” or the “Company”) (TSXV: QUIS), a premier Microsoft solutions provider, has formed a strategic relationship with Stewart Title (“Stewart”) (NYSE: STC), a global real estate services company, to drive its rapid application development and migration to the Microsoft Azure cloud.
As part of the process and thanks to a successful prior engagement, Stewart engaged Quisitive to accelerate their vision of leveraging the public cloud to better serve the business and customers. With the added capabilities of the Microsoft Azure cloud, Stewart is able to reorganize its previous infrastructure and processes and now rapidly develop an advanced set of digitized applications that will set itself up for success in the near- and long-term. More specifically, Quisitive will assist in quickly developing new customized cloud-based applications to enhance a data-driven business-to-consumer, or “B2C,” experience.
As a result of the collaboration, Stewart will have the capacity to develop a fully operational product within just 45 days; normally a process that would take multiple months to complete. The collaboration provides Stewart with the flexibility to go to market at an expedited rate, giving itself an edge against competitors.
Under the terms of the annual agreement, the Company will serve as Stewart’s IT services provider for Microsoft-centric initiatives, including application development (web + mobile), data and analytics, and Azure cloud optimization.
“Quisitive’s talent, resources, and expertise in modern application development make them the right company to help us optimize, streamline, and enhance our overall operations during these unprecedented times,” said Mark Doggett, VP of Enterprise Solutions at Stewart Title. “Quisitive is providing us a mix of onshore, offshore, and near-shore resources to augment our software development team and the necessary support services to ensure our success. With access to the Azure cloud, we will now have the ability to swiftly enable immersive experiences, services, and products when engaging with customers in B2C scenarios. We look forward to working closely with their team in this synergistic effort, as we remain laser-focused in positioning ourselves for future growth and further customer innovation.”
Quisitive CEO Mike Reinhart commented: “We are the partner that will stand side-by-side our clients and provide innovative and customized solutions in their Microsoft Cloud journey. Our integration will equip Stewart Title with the necessary tools to more seamlessly grow its top line and expand its consumer base.”
About Stewart
Stewart (NYSE-STC) is a global real estate services company, offering products and services through our direct operations, network of Stewart Trusted Providers™ and family of companies. From residential and commercial title insurance and closing and settlement services to specialized offerings for the mortgage industry, we offer the comprehensive service, deep expertise and solutions our customers need for any real estate transaction. At Stewart, we are dedicated to becoming the premier title services company and we are committed to doing so by partnering with our customers to create mutual success. Learn more at stewart.com.
About Quisitive:
Quisitive (TSXV: QUIS) is a premier Microsoft solutions provider that helps enterprises move, operate, and innovate in the Microsoft cloud: Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Dynamics, and Microsoft 365. Quisitive also provides proprietary SaaS solutions such as CRG emPerform™ and LedgerPay that complement the Microsoft platform. Quisitive serves clients globally from offices in the U.S and Canada.
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