When AT8 formed 3 years ago we were often drawn into arguments about online systems versus offline systems. The truth was there was no one right approach as it depended upon the business model being supported. Today the argument has shifted subtly to whether SaaS (Software as a Service) solutions are suitable to today’s market or not.

To examine this argument further we first need to define SaaS solutions and to do this I turn to our old friend Wikipedia who state:

Software as a Service (SaaS, typically pronounced ‘sass’) is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web-servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires.

In this definition it is important to note that this is not about online versus offline – both models can be supported in a SaaS environment (although it is usually online vendors that operate in this manner). It is also not about simply hosting solutions on behalf of vendors. It is licensing access to software as it is needed, scaling the usage (by users or transactions) as required.

The advantages of this approach can be substantial, especially when combined with an online philosophy. The end user doesn’t need to invest in servers and has reduced IT management overheads, the service and their associated costs can scale to their business requirements, the software is kept current and up to date, the business model is more cost effective to run, and so the list goes on.

There are more and more suppliers of SaaS solutions out there. Salesforce.com is one of the most notable brands but there are also several Insurance specialist brands including IntelliFlo, True Potential and Solution 4.

At AT8 we have also taken this philosophy in building our own office infrastructure. We use Salesforce.com for our contact management, our email services are run by 1&1, while our documents and managed and stored on a service called huddle. We don’t limit the approach to software and we also buy our telecoms in this manner using a virtual PBX from Voipfone. We don’t have the capacity or the desire to manage our own infrastructure especially as it is cost effective to get others to do this for us. It is in effect Infrastructure as a Service.

It is interesting to see that some third parties, such as the recently formed Cirrus ICT are now beginning to join all these different Infrastructures Services together as one package for distributors. They add to their offering an IT management service to help ensure that the services, especially those of a larger scale than our own, are smoothly implemented and provide a reliable an ongoing service.

As with the arguments we used to referee three years ago during the online vs offline debates, Online SaaS solutions will not be the right answer for everyone. Some, especially large Banks, will not want an external service to host the data, some may want offline access, others will simply get frustrated with the performance problems that can occasionally happen with these services. But SaaS is getting main stream support and should not be ruled out without careful consideration.

Having just received our revised Terms of Service recently from Biz Stone, founder of Twitter, it’s clear that Twitter is getting ready to move into the next phase in their business development.

There does seem to be a polarisation in the use of this type of social networking, that is demarcating between business and recreational use and, indeed, Twitter are rumoured to be considering charging corporate users – like us, I guess.

The graph below shows our community – we’d like to think of it as a ‘hardcore’ group of like-minded followers!

We started using Twitter in February and have been delighted in the way it enables us to receive valuable feedback from our community of followers. Although in absolute terms compared to celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Stephen Fry or Jonathan Ross, our numbers are substantially more ‘modest’ but the number of followers has increased well over the six months or so.

We learnt very early on that we mustn’t use Twitter just as a ‘broadcast’ medium and that interaction is the name of the game and have discovered new friends and also a vital source of opinion and feedback.

We can also claim that Twitter has generated revenue for us, which given some of the cynicism we have seen from others who like to dismiss this type of technology, is very pleasing. We do believe that social networking has a place in the workplace arena and certainly we are ensuring that this type of approach is rolled into a varied digital marketing strategy; one that encompasses more conventional techniques, eg email, web etc. coupled with the more avant garde. In fact, some commentators are suggesting that Twitter or services like it could replace conventional email mass marketing.

Now, whether this momentum will be arrested by the move to chargeable services is debatable – only time will tell, I guess, but it might well change the way corporate use justifies the effort of servicing this particular digital channel.

Many readers may have experienced the stress of exam results over the past month with children, nephews and nieces getting their GCSE and A level results. The joys and frustrations have been clear for all to see as the results of months, indeed years of work come in.

Of course insurance professionals are no strangers to exam pressures themselves. For many the acheivement of the current benchmark QCA Level 3 – approximately equivelent to the A level results we have been watching our children fight to achieve – was felt to be enough. We now have 14,000 advisers qualified to QCA Level 4 which is equivalent to the first year of a Degree course and this is the new benchmark level that the industry neeeds reach by the 2012 deadline set by the RDR. The effort to gain QCA level 4 is substantial and the CII says it should take 370 hours of study to get to a pass. Interestingly, the high levels of attainment achieved at A level that have promted so much press coverage about falling standards, are not being matched by Financial Advisers, indeed, rates in some subjects is below the 50% mark. This low pass rate is not an issue per se, as retakes are of course an option – but as the deadline imposed by RDR to gets closer, relying of retakes will become a very risky option.

Whilst it may still seem some time before the deadline of 2012, the logistical challenges and individual stresses and strains will soon begin to take its toll – especially the larger organisations. A quick review of the scheduled training and exams, expected pass rates and retakes across some of these organisations may reveal some scary statistics about how many will not meet the deadline in time.

To address this issue organisations must put in place detailed development plans with the appropriate levels of supervision and it is my contention that to do this without IT support is a costly and risky route. There are many good systems that can help advisors and supervisor build their training plans, execute them and equally important provide CPD monitoring and review progress. Through using such a systematic approach, supervisors can increase their span of control and organisations can better understand and manage their exposure to the 2012 deadlines. These development programmes need to start today and the larger firms and networks should consider what IT support they can get to help them. AT8 have been running a series of reviews of T&C systems over the past months (see our library section) and will also be willing to provide a free consultation snapshot summary to the first 10 distributor firms or networks considering investment in this area.