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Data integration in the context of SMSF industry integration
(click image to zoom)
Our valued blog contributor and SMSF specialist Aaron Dunn very recently published an excellent overview of the SMSF industry in his highly respected SMSF blog www.thedunnthing.com. His chart depicts various categories with its major players. What the chart doesn’t show is the dataflow between the players.
This blog post discusses elements of the transactional dataflow between SMSF industry players.
Network thinking is not prevalent in the SMSF industry
For years “straight-through processing” has been a catchword in the Financial Services Industry. While a lot has been achieved over the years, the SMSF industry players and adjacent data generating industries are not thinking and acting in networks (yet). Too many entities still think they can do it all themselves and leave their Accounting and Advice clients alone with barely integrated compliance solutions (aka accounting software) and a few data feeds. What is missing is true network thinking and acting and using web-services technology which is readily available today but unfortunately not used enough. The industry is stuck with on-premise accounting software and vendors who try to bolt on web features to their existing products; some being more successful than others, though.
RSDataWeb, the “Switzerland” of accounting and advice systems
At RewardSuper we’ve understood that the Internet has dawned on the SMSF industry and that network thinking and acting are the way to make it stick. Not only web services technology but the willingness to actively exchange data electronically without manual intervention is the way forward. With our RSDataWeb solution, we are at the bleeding edge of this new technology adoption. We team up with forward thinking companies in the industry to automatically hook up client authorized data streams such as share trading data, and feeding the resulting cleaned and fully matched data into the compliance systems of choice, such as BGL Simple Fund, Acurity, superMate and others. In the industry we are all in this together with trying to deliver the best possible data as quickly as possible and untampered by manual interventions into the books of SMSFs (i.e. trial balances).
Integrating the SMSF accounting data value chain
The key to data integration and resulting high data quality is for the players in the data value chain to let their systems talk to each other across all process steps. No manual interventions such as keying in contract notes data into compliance software, which represent broken links in the data flow (see picture). While the process flow should be automatic to represent true integration, there needs to be ongoing control of the process by the process owners. In the example of an SMSF conducting share trades, there are three types of owners: trustees, who decide and effect trades, stock brokers, who execute trades on behalf of the trustees, and accountants, who also act on behalf of the trustees by making sure that the trades are correctly represented in the SMFS's books.
The example process has two integration points
(1) The broker’s order system automatically produces trade confirmations (aka contract notes) for their clients, the trustees. With RSDataWeb the contract notes are automatically picked up and reconciled with the cash book.
(2) RSDataWeb automatically codes all reconciled transactions and delivers them to the respective accounting system.
Both integration points need to be carefully monitored by the accountants (via automatically produced exception reports), who are in control of the process from step 3 onwards. An automated, integrated and well controlled process delivers the results, which the trustees the Auditors and the SMSF regulator rightfully expect to see.
Author: Wolf Schumacher
RSDataWeb - a SaaS Data Automation & Integration Platform
What exactly is SaaS?
Software-as-a-Service (short: SaaS) is a software application such as RSDataWeb residing in the Cloud that is licenced to users and accessed via the Internet as a service (source: Wikipedia http://bit.ly/icIpOS). Among the many advantages are scalability, reliability and the absence of system installation and maintenance, which are all included in the web-based service.
What is Data Automation?
RSDataWeb collects transaction data, reconciles and transfers them to various accounting systems. It does this without human intervention, which classifies it as an automated system. Humans instigate and supervise the automated processes and handle exceptions from automated business rules.
What is Data Integration?
RSDataWeb organises the process of feeding systems delivering required data into the system and also the process of how to get completed data out of the system into targeted accounting systems.
The level of integration is largely dependent upon the capabilities of the feeding and the target systems. RSDataWeb deals with incomplete and complete feeding and target systems in an organised way:
Complete systems are able to send through and/or receive data via so called web services, which allow machine-to-machine communication without any human intervention. Incomplete systems typically restrict their users to download / upload data files manually.
Two examples
RSDataWeb can handle both situations. For example Macquarie Bank organises their data feeds as a web service, which allows RSDataWeb to import the data daily without any human intervention.The Macquarie system moves the transaction data without any manual intervention directly into RSDataWeb, where they are subject to automated reconciliation procedures.
On the other hand, the well known Banklink service requires Accountants to download data to their computers, before they can be made available in RSDataWeb. Unfortunately there are no web services available from Banklink. Consequently their system requires the manual upload of the transaction files into RSDataWeb, where again they are subject to automated reconciliation procedures.
Pulling it all together in one Platform
RSDataWeb functions as a data preparation platform for Accounting and Advice firms. It allows for the automated integration with data sources and the automated export of completely coded transactions to Accounting packages.
Automation and Integration means there is no human intervention required other than downloading and uploading of data files in case of feeding and target systems not being on web services standards yet.
A system which requires source data to be manually amended (keyed in), is not an automated or integrated system.
These system are not capable to reach similar scalability, high data quality and low cost status as the completely automated & integrated RSDataWeb platform.
You can read more about RSDataWeb here: http://www.rewardsuper.com.au
Author: Wolf Schumacher
How to keep your web browsing safe
As user names and their passwords are in your hands as a web application user, here is some security advice for you:
Use a modern web browser, such as Google Chrome
Chrome has advanced security features built right in and e.g. automatically updates important security features:
http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/more/security.html
Use site-specific user names and passwords
For ease of use many people use the same user names and passwords everywhere they go on the web. While this is a convenient method not to forget anything, it may compromise your whole online existence, as there are “bad guys” on the Internet who are specialists in “sniffing out” user names and passwords.
Please use site specific user names. You may be known as “Brenda” to one site and “BR1984” to another. You get the idea.
Frequently change passwords
This is a no-brainer but unfortunately not practiced enough. Change your passwords at least once per month. The security of your passwords increases with its length and the combined use of letters and numbers. For example the password “jack” is less secure than “98j12a89cK” . it would take years for someone with their computers to figure out your password, even if they knew that you own a lovely puppy by the name of Jack.
You may ask: How can I make sure that I don’t forget my user names and passwords?
Some people write them in their diaries, some even on post-it notes. There are better methods to secure your data:
Use one of the widely available password vault systems, such as the free open source Keepass system for Windows computers: http://keepass.info/help/base/index.html
Wishing you secure browsing!
Author: Wolf Schumacher
Towards More Productive Work
Recently I’ve read a fabulous academic piece with an at first incomprehensible title:
“ Harnessing the Digital Lens to Measure and Manage Information Work. ”
The title alone would not make many practitioners read it - yet it contains some well researched insights for improving white-collar productivity inside our organisations in today's information society.
The most productive workers are brokers of information
An analysis of email traffic showed that information workers at the hub of network traffic were more productive than others, not by sending lots of emails, but by being more influential. An organisation’s best performers are well connected information hubs
The most productive workers quickly send short succinct messages
The researchers found that quick succinct responses correlate with higher productivity. From personal experience I know that an email should only address one topic . The other topics are often not even read by recipients of the message and the information is lost and requires time-consuming rework by the sender, when he eventually finds out about this.
An important insight is to be responsive, yet not to the extent that it harms the flow of work through frequent interruptions. Batching of responses , e.g. at the end of the work day, is an adequate tactic to restore productivity
The most productive workers don’t simply speed up work, but transform it
Operationally successful people don’t merely speed up existing work, but multitask, i.e. work on more tasks at the same time than people that perform their work consecutively. But there is a limit to multitasking. When a person takes on too many tasks at the same time, the sum of the individual preparation times for each task may require the whole time available and there is no output for most tasks. The secret is to multitask easily and effectively, not just piling up more work in a limited time bucket.
The most productive workers use IT to swap low value for high value information processing
Surprisingly, the research showed that managers who reported the greatest levels of information overload were not the ones managing the greatest amount of information. Instead, executives who practiced delegating routine tasks to specialized technology and / or staff were handling significantly greater information flows without feeling information overload. This tactic of clearly differentiating between low value and high value information processing tasks is key for improving on productivity and revenue streams.
For example from our own work, moving accountants away from keying in client transactions and using an advanced data preparation tool such as our own RSDataWeb, allows to have these accountants perform much higher value work, such as advising clients in tax matters.
Successful managers decentralize information and decision-making
It makes a lot of sense for management to identify, document and share best practices. This requires often changing the management style altogether.
They need to avoid being information bottlenecks (e.g. attending all meetings) and instead distribute and automate information processing. Reducing reporting levels, training and empowering members of the workforce are only a few elements of that new strategy. Required are fundamental changes to the embedded cultures of their organizations.
Successful managers combine incentives, corporate culture and IT into one solution
Research shows that massive productivity gains can be achieved by simultaneously implementing improvements in all three areas at the same time versus in isolation. When management combines incentives with policies to promote information sharing and enabling technologies, they see tangible results of higher productivity. Policies, group bonus systems and Web-based IT technologies that promote collaboration produce better results than policies, incentive systems and standalone desktop IT solutions that strengthen competition between staff members.
Successful managers provide constructive feedback
Successful strategies for information rich environments of today can’t only be top down, even though modern data-driven IT systems can drive command and control structures. On the contrary, the centralized data flow within an organisation should support local decisions. This helps to empower workers by e.g. having access to fine-grained benchmark data which allows them to compare their performances among themselves. Employees should be given the tools to figure things out for themselves and to change work processes where necessary for better results
Successful managers create platforms for continuous learning and experimentation
In the mass data environments of today, learning and experimentation becomes more relevant for studying the outcomes of alternative strategies and actions. It is no longer the reliance on HIPPOs (the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion), but rather the reliance on automatically prepared “hard” data, that makes the difference. The digital infrastructure of the organisation lends itself to be used as a platform for continuous learning and experimenting with various tactics for better outcomes. The biggest barrier to this is not Technology, which is readily available. Rather it can be the organizational structure and its culture, which may stand in the way of designing the organisation’s future.
My thanks go to Sinan Aral, NYU New York, Erik Brynjolfsson, MIT Cambridge Mass, and Marshall Van Alstyne, Boston U, Boston, for providing with their wonderful article the basis for this blog entry.
Author: Wolf Schumacher
Our demos will start at the end
In 2010 we've done literally 100's of webinars showing and telling the vast functionality of RSDataWeb and its integrated partner applications.
The demos not always led to the results we expected, though. We now know that showing every nook and granny of our wonderful web app can be overwhelming and sometimes lead to two unexpected results:
(1) "we want a discount, as we'll only be using a subset of what the system offers," and worse
(2) showing too many features makes an otherwise easy to handle system look complicated.
Learning from a recent excellent lecture by Peter E Cohan from Second Derivative; in our upcoming 2011 online demos to prospects we'll start at the end, presenting what our clients want to achieve and (only) then, based on their questions, "peel back the layers" and interactively present details of our great RSDataWeb solution..
We are confident, that this new approach will win us even more happy clients.
Author: Wolf Schumacher from the iPhone
- Posted from Rose Bay, Australia
Blog postings from the iPhone
Postings to our blog directly from the iPhone have been made very easy and quick with the new posterous app available on the app store. This little post has been written using the app.
Author: Wolf Schumacher
- Posted from Rose Bay, Australia
Change Management crucial for adoption!
With this and future blog posts I would like to share our experiences with the practical implementation of RSDataWeb.
A recent case: One of our trial clients expressed doubts about going forward with the roll-out of our web technology to their practice.
- The senior person in charge of the trial process had "too much on her plate" and wasn't comfortable testing the details of the system herself.
- The nominated project Champion, an experienced contract accountant, was quite happy with the way he performed his daily admin work and the tools he had at his disposal. He concentrated his assessment of the new technology not on how it could improve the performance of their practice, but rather on trying to find and highlight "errors" in the new system.
- The embedded Workflow and Work-in-progress monitoring feature was not deployed right from the beginning, so that the real time and cost savings were not properly identified.
What did we learn from this exercise and what will we share with future trial clients?
- The project Champion needs to be a senior person actively committed to change/automate traditional time-consuming and mundane work practices.
- The project Champion mustn't be a person in a double-bind situation, i.e. someone who makes a living from the current work practices and at the same time is being made responsible for assessing a new system which will drastically change current work practices.
- Our Workflow and WIP feature needs to be activated right from the start of the trial to be able to compare current with changed work practices on a client, task and work-item basis.
- Change management insights and practices need to be inserted into our initial trial client teachings.
Resource: http://www.rewardsuper.com.au/index.html#6
Author: Wolf Schumacher, wolf @rewardsuper.com.au
Jan 2011: Renewed Site & new Blog
Right at the beginning of the New Year I am delighted to announce the launch of our renewed public web site and this new Blog. Both reflect our business objectives, our product development and our evolution as a company.
I am particularly excited that we can now more easily illustrate the important role the RSDataWeb administration platform plays for our customers, for our prospects and for the Accounting and Financial advice industry. You will learn about RSDataWeb’s new features and capabilities - as well as the fabulous value-adding solutions, integrated in RSDataWeb, of our trusted technology and application partners.
If you've visited our web site before, you'll notice that we've now integrated, at no additional subscription cost to our customers, formerly separate modules (eg. RSDocWeb), into RSDataWeb. The only separate but technically integrated modules are those sourced from our trusted partners (eg Sharesight), which you can easily enable online within RSDataWeb.
I invite you to visit our renewed site and blog often as we are planning updates that you don’t want to miss. Feel free to comment this and upcoming blog posts. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Wishing you a happy and successful 2011!
Wolf SchumacherDirectorReward Super Pty LtdLevel 2, 333 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000wolf@rewardsuper.com.auMob 0400 837 458
