In March 2008, New York-based International Derivatives Clearing Group was designing a clearing system for trades of over-the-counter interest-rate swaps and other fixed-income derivatives. An independent subsidiary of NASDAQ OMX Group, the world’s largest securities exchange company in total market value of its listed securities, IDCG had to bring efficiency and transparency to what’s currently estimated to be a $419 trillion market worldwide.

“We needed a platform that could calculate risk at the speed of market transactions, in a complex and ever-changing environment,” recalls Gerry Lawlor, IDCG’s chief technology officer (photo right).

Time was of the essence. IDCG had to pass regulatory clearance with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission by year-end in order to go live in 2009.

After considering several risk-management software makers, IDCG chose Razor Risk Technologies, a Certified Microsoft Solutions Partner, and provider of a real-time risk-assessment and risk-management platform that was rigorous enough to process changes over time and under a broad spectrum of scenarios.

“What Razor Risk brought to the table was its ability to do all that quickly and comprehensively, spanning our entire structure of accounts – traders, allocation accounts, margin accounts, clearing members and so on – and monitor the broad-based, ever-shifting risks continuously,” says Lawlor.

Besides being able to meet IDCG’s technological requirements, the Sydney, Australia-based Razor Risk, a publicly traded company, “understood the OTC market and specifically what we needed to do,” adds Lawlor.

It was small and nimble enough to get the system running, including integrating the risk platform with existing software that handled transactions, within IDCG’s narrow timeframe.

Integrating the system wasn’t especially difficult. “Razor’s open interface simplifies integration of data with existing trading and clearing systems,” explains Malcolm Warne, president of Razor Risk Technologies for the Americas (photo left).

Staff training wasn’t much of an issue either. Razor Risk professionals worked with IDCG’s own in-house team in an ongoing partnership. “We still have four of their people permanently based here with us,” notes Lawlor.

Still, with regulatory approval looming, the combined team had to “move at breakneck speed,” says Lawlor. “This meant we had to be very pragmatic in our decision-making, but our vision was well understood and never really changed. Getting into production was more paramount than sweating the nitty-gritty.”

One key to success was laying out incremental steps from the outset. “From the beginning, we agreed about what needed to be done by when and by whom, and that enabled us to track very smoothly and stay on budget,” Warne says.

Of course, there were milestones along the way to benchmark progress. “The initial scoping and planning session enabled us to meet our promised deliverables and track against budget,” he adds.

To accomplish that, the implementation crew was able to set aside concerns about specific potential problems in large part because the Razor platform is highly configurable. In fact, a key to the success of the project was building flexibility into the system.

“We knew we were going to have to adapt to the different requirements of our diverse client base,” Lawlor notes. “We needed to be able to adjust while still working within a structured framework, to quickly accommodate the variety of needs that would arise. Clients come in with different account structures, and I can change Razor on the fly to accommodate that.”

The built-in flexibility is considered vital to maximizing client comfort. Customers of all stripes can execute derivatives contracts exactly when and how they wish.

Indeed, making sure the platform would pass regulatory approval was the single biggest hurdle. “We were under the microscope as we were configuring and implementing the system,” says Warne. “The CFTC has a well-defined process for gaining approval, but we had to provide documentation about the software and demonstrate that the technology was sufficiently robust.”

IDCG worked with the regulators to “make them feel comfortable with the risk-management policy” while Razor Risk helped the agency become “comfortable with the technology underpinning that,” Warne continues. “It wasn’t a simple process, but it went smoothly.”

Sure enough, approval was given in December 2008, just six months after work began and two weeks before the International Derivatives Clearinghouse, an IDCG subsidiary, went live.

From here, with the technology firmly in place, IDCG’s primary focus is on getting more fixed-income derivatives market participants to use the system. “We’re going after the second largest market in the world,” says Lawlor. “We’re still in the early stages but there’s no reason why it couldn’t grow well beyond its current size.”

IDCG isn’t alone in this optimistic assessment. In June, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. acquired a minority stake for an undisclosed sum.

Before 2006, information-technology innovators had no efficient way to share news affecting their industry. IT solution providers, software developers, technology resellers, trade associations, user groups, consumers, related businesses and myriad others who care about the future of innovation needed a reliable stream of up-to-date information about workforce developments, educational trends, shifts in the political climate and other issues that influence the sector.

“There are millions of people and hundreds of thousands of companies around the world who benefit from a healthy, competitive IT ecosystem,” explains Tom Murphy, director of communications for citizenship and community affairs at Microsoft Corp. “Unfortunately, they have not always had a voice in policy discussions that might impact their businesses and the very future of technology.”

To assist partners and other organizations and individuals with these issues, Microsoft created a new online network, Voices for Innovation – a virtual network where participants could come together to learn, connect and engage on issues of importance to their businesses.

“VFI was started to give this community the opportunity to be more engaged in public policy discussions that may affect its future [and] to express their views,” Murphy says.

Microsoft provided the technical infrastructure, including a Web site (www.voicesforinnovation.org). Then VFI members themselves took over, setting the agenda and spearheading a variety of activities.

“First and foremost, VFI is about enabling the community,” says Murphy. “Along with peer-to-peer networking there is a lot of activity in the area of education and awareness.”

For example, VFI recently hosted a tutorial to provide small businesses with advice about government stimulus funding for IT development.

VFI also provides members with a means to advocate for the economic growth of the IT sector, addressing an ever-changing list of key issues that can influence members’ businesses and careers, as well as the broader technology industry. It supports innovation and promotes public policies that maintain a fair and level playing field. One way is by making available direct interaction with relevant government officials.

“VFI encourages IT professionals, including Microsoft partners, to participate in local policy debates and engage with their elected officials to ensure that there is a pro-innovation policy environment that supports economic growth,” says Murphy. “Unless government officials fully appreciate the broader IT ecosystem, decisions could be made that might potentially harm IT businesses and also negatively impact local economic opportunities. On the other hand, if government officials do understand, they can positively impact IT businesses and the local economic opportunities that those businesses provide.”

 The group is dedicated to the notion that IT innovation generates positive repercussions for the global economy – by boosting productivity, generating jobs and empowering businesses.

Today, just three years after it was launched, VFI boasts more than 10,000 members and growing.

“That’s a fantastic achievement in itself,” notes Murphy. “But ultimately, the success of VFI is about having an active, strong and engaged membership that gets real value from its involvement.”

Part of the challenge from here is keeping up with a sector that’s always in flux. “The world of technology is constantly changing. Innovation is at the center of that,” says Murphy. “The mission of VFI, however, remains the same: provide a forum where technology professionals, business leaders and other interested parties can discuss how to promote innovation and economic growth.”

So far, the only surprise has been how quickly VFI caught on. “The passion and commitment of the members has validated our decision to provide the infrastructure for learning about and discussing these issues,” says Murphy.

To take it to the next step, VFI must remain relevant and useful to its membership. Microsoft is monitoring its development. “As long as members continue to get value from their participation, and we expect they will, the community will grow and prosper,” predicts Murphy.

The need for a vital IT community is more important than ever, in Murphy’s view. “Innovation creates value in our economy,” he emphasizes. “From how companies innovate in business operations and service delivery, to innovation in other sectors such as science, healthcare and education, there are incredible opportunities which can help address the current macroeconomic challenges.”

Murphy cites the merging of powerful software with the benefits of services delivered over the Internet to show how businesses are using technology to drive growth. “Then there is the convergence of PCs with mobile devices and TVs, providing consumers with a connected digital experience on the move and at home,” he adds.

IT innovation will continue to be a major driver in creating social and economic value, he concludes. Says Murphy: “VFI is part of ensuring that we have the pro-innovation policy environment that supports that innovation and the subsequent economic growth.”

In early 2005, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (annual revenue: $7.65 billion) had no standardized sales and marketing tool for its 3,000 financial advisors nationwide. The sales force supplied its own material and technology from a variety of independent sources, over which the home office had little control.

“Guardian decided this was not an acceptable position to be in,” recalls Robert M. Ball, special consultant to Guardian. 

So the New York-based mutual insurance provider sought a new, centrally run, Web-based sales and marketing platform. The goals: 1) oversee the quality of the marketing content and sales training material, 2) create a recruiting magnet, 3) facilitate uniform regulatory compliance, and 4) improve productivity.

After considering several vendors, Guardian opted to build its own proprietary system from scratch. When management presented its vision to eMoney Advisor, a Conshohocken, PA-based company, which offers a complete software solution for financial advisors, it found a receptive partner. 

“We listened very closely, and then opened up our software and our code to make a new system that fit Guardian’s unique sales style and culture,” explains Edmond Walters, founder and CEO of eMoney Advisor.

The initial test version needed to be tweaked to satisfy Guardian. In all, development took about six months. In September 2005, Guardian launched Phase One of its new platform, The Living Balance Sheet, a Web site that organizes every piece of each account’s financial picture in one place, and updates the information daily.

“Most people use many different providers for their financial needs, and they struggle to keep on top of this disorganization. But The Living Balance Sheet puts everything under one electronic roof so people feel they are on track and have a chance to win the financial game,” says Ball.

Since then, The Living Balance Sheet has been periodically enhanced to provide even more capabilities more quickly and easily. It can now rebalance clients’ asset-allocation mix, develop wealth-accumulation strategies, alert clients when it’s time to revisit a particular area of their finances, determine the impact of inflation, taxes and debts on their net worth, and even track their airline reward programs and store copies of important legal documents in an electronic vault. Customized reports can be generated with a few simple mouse clicks, and with Phase Six, released in April 2009, all this data can be accessed on wireless handheld devices.

Adoption has been swift. Guardian now has nearly 60,000 clients who use The Living Balance Sheet, representing some $60 billion in aggregate assets. It’s used as a full-time planning platform by 1,200 Guardian sales reps, too, and recruitment and retention of sales staff has risen measurably. While the life insurance industry as a whole struggles, Guardian is posting positive productivity growth. “These are all barometers of the success of The Living Balance Sheet,” says Ball.

Of course, to keep The Living Balance Sheet running smoothly, and to handle ballooning demand from the sales force and end-users, there are significant ongoing costs. Guardian’s home office has an internal support team of IT professionals to maintain the infrastructure and a legal staff to secure patents and copyright protections. The costs are also borne by the field force, which subscribe to the platform for a flat monthly fee of $300. Additionally, eMoney waived certain charges, confident of quickly recouping the expenditure.

In all, the installation came in under budget and ahead of schedule. Guardian developed and adopted the system incrementally, enabling Guardian to layer on additional capabilities quickly. Another benefit of rolling out the system in phases is that transitions don’t overwhelm staff. For the initial rollout, some training was required to familiarize personnel with the new capabilities, but subsequent changes were added gradually, with little or no training. “We stagger new releases so our people can get used to the features a step at a time. That way we’re always building on a solid foundation,” says Ball. 

Though regulatory issues are simplified by the platform’s standardization – a marked improvement from the old patchwork of outsourced systems – one compliance challenge was merging the insurance-related products with securities-related investment advice as different rules apply. But in 2008 that hurdle was overcome. 

The Living Balance Sheet is a “fully evolved system,” says Ball, but Guardian will keep augmenting features as new technologies become available. The benefits to Guardian’s business are clear. “With eMoney and The Living Balance Sheet, we find ourselves in the enviable position of being way out in front of the pack,” says Ball. 

eMoney was built based on Windows 2003, Microsoft .NET Framework, Internet Information Server, SQL Server 2005, and Microsoft XML Parser, among other technologies.

www.guardianlife.com

www.emoneyadvisor.com

By switching to a supplier that could deliver both mortgage and consumer origination products in one platform and integrate them with the core banking software, Glenview hoped to increase the efficiency of its 230 employees and generate more business. Ultimately, it got all this and more.

Glenview embraced the solution offered by Milwaukee-based Metavante Corp. Metavante already supplied Glenview’s core banking and document imaging software, so its Consumer Loan Origination System (CLOS) easily interfaced with the bank’s existing infrastructure. “It made sense to bring it all under one roof,” says Campbell.

In fact, giving customers the option of bringing it all under one roof has been a key part of Metavante’s growth strategy. Over the years it has acquired complementary solutions providers to “build a suite of products that provide more value for customers not just on a stand-alone basis but on an integrated basis,” explains Cyrus Brinn, president of Metavante Lend- ing Solutions.

Synergies
Metavante’s CLOS solution streamlines consumer loan processing and enables Glenview to access customer relationship information from its core banking system. It can also access supplementary data from external sources, such as credit bureaus, and supports a variety of consumer and corporate loans such as primary and secondary mortgages, home equity lines of credit, auto loans and a broad spectrum of unsecured debt.

Besides being able to feed data seamlessly across different operational areas, saving Glenview personnel from wasting time on repetitive tasks such as re-entering information, the solution had to be capable of interacting with Freddie Mac’s loan purchasing system. It is. Glenview also wanted potential customers to be able to apply for loans over the Internet, to drive a surge in the consumer business. So besides installing Metavante’s CLOS, Glenview licensed Metavante’s Mortgage Loan Origination Software (MLOS) and its Internet-Direct Origination solution, a secure, private-label Web site that enables borrowers to submit loan applications electronically, eliminating the need for multiple installations or additional hardware while streamlining back-office operations.

“We were able to upgrade our loan systems, replace our Internet loan applications provider and get rid of excess vendors, all in one fell swoop,” marvels Campbell.

Saving Time and Money
Because so many changes were made at once, Campbell said it’s difficult to calculate the exact costs incurred. At worst, sticking with Metavante instead of going to other suppliers was cost-neutral, he adds, but “probably cost-beneficial.”

By automating many processes at speeds human hands could never hope to match, and eliminating the need to re-key data, the new system should quickly offset whatever the expense. “We’ve typically been able to show an increase in efficiency of somewhere between 15 percent and 25 percent,” says Metavante’s Brinn.

Campbell concurred. Before Metavante, Glenview could spend as much as two weeks instituting even a small change in its credit policy, tweaking its various non-interfacing systems one by one. “But with this product we just go right to the underlying decision engine and make the change once. It’s immediately carried out across the whole network,” explains Campbell. “The time savings alone is worthwhile!”

Still, implementing a complete solution like Glenview’s normally takes between 60 and 90 days, according to Brinn. For Glenview, however, it took nearly four months because “we were creating something from scratch,” Campbell says, especially referring to the new Web presence. “Ours was the beta site,” he adds, noting that the end result is much more user-friendly than its predecessor. “It’s more intuitive and therefore easier to use,” says Campbell.

Nevertheless, Metavante provided training, which “typically takes just a couple of hours,” says Brinn.

How long it will take Glenview’s staff to get up to speed depends partly on how often they execute new loans. “Some of our branches do only one or two mortgages per month,” explains Campbell, “but now all they have to do is enter the information directly over the Internet, the same way consumers do. There’s no training necessary there.”

This was an unexpected benefit. “Our branches will be able to input an application online, instead of having to refer potential mortgage customers to the main branch and perhaps losing them,” stresses Campbell. “Discovering we could use the new Internet piece for data entry from our branches was a nice surprise.”

Regulatory Compliance
There were a few complications during the transition, to be sure. All documentation produced by the system had to be in compliance with federal and local lender regulations, for instance. Institutions that announce their mortgage rates, even on the Internet, must also disclose the corresponding annual percentage yields. “We simply had to make sure this was done right. Now that it’s taken care of, we can easily feed new data into the system and it’s automatically prepared according to regulations,” says Campbell.

As yet it’s difficult to measure the productivity improvements from this new, integrated solution. Servicing it, though, should be a breeze. “Except for the Internet component, we have everything on our own servers,” says Campbell, “and we have our own IT department to take care of any problems that arise.” Just in case, however, help from Metavante is always close at hand. “Since we have so much different software from the one company, our voice will be that much louder if and when we cry for help,” Campbell notes.

Going Step-By-Step
In fact, the only thing Campbell would do differently if he could do it all over again would be to take the transition a step at a time. “With 20/20 hindsight, we probably should not have done all three pieces at once,” he says. “We should have started with just the mortgage origination system itself, instead of trying to do the consumer components at the same time. Of course, it depends on the resources you have. Everyone at Glenview had other jobs to do, too, so it was hard to set aside blocks of time for the upgrades.”

Metavante’s Brinn advises moving slowly and carefully. “Be methodical about identifying precisely what you need from a system, what your objectives are,” he suggests. “Canvass the market, pinpoint viable solutions that pass through your filters, then select two or three for a more in-depth due-diligence examination. Look at not just the latest technology but the roadmap for its future possibilities. Look at the underlying financial position of the technology provider. If you’re going to spend time and money changing your systems, the result should generate benefits for at least five years if not more. The longer, the better.”

One key to the success of Glenview’s upgrades was its close working relationship with Metavante. “Metavante was willing to listen to what we had to say about how the system should work and look,” says Campbell. “It’s important when you’re doing a new development like this to have a partner who is easy to work with.”

It’s too soon to measure the results of Glenview’s integrated upgrade and, in fairness, the mortgage market has changed a great deal since the bank began exploring its upgrade options. Fortunately, Glenview has been spared the brunt of the credit crunch. “The overall mortgage market might have slowed down considerably, but we’ve never been a subprime lender so the impact on us has been much smaller than anticipated,” shares Campbell. “From our point of view, the playing field has been leveled in our favor.”

Indeed, recent reductions at and outright closings of innumerable mortgage brokers have left many homebuyers desperate for legitimate, established, trustworthy loan purveyors – perhaps especially those with a “bricks-and-mortar presence in the community,” says Brinn. “Local institutions like Glenview fit the bill perfectly.”

To meet what promises to be growing demand, Campbell reiterated the potential savings of time and money from using Metavante’s comprehensive solutions packages. “The myriad tie-ins and interfaces with the core system eliminate the most repetitive tasks,” Campbell says. “More importantly, without having to re-key so much data we’re less likely to make errors.”

www.gsb.com

www.metavante.com

“Instant messaging is a lot faster than e-mailing, and it allows you to see who is online and who isn’t at any given time, which e-mail doesn’t. The telephone, on the other hand, can disrupt your workflow,” explained Graham Lawlor, program manager of instant messaging at Deutsche Bank, and chairman of the Financial Services Instant Messaging Association (FIMA), an industry group.

On Wall Street, where fast-paced communication has always been a way of life, these communication methods are carving out a niche for themselves.

Instant messaging works only for one-to-one communications. Group chat, on the other hand, enables instant communications among any number of people. “Group chat typically enters financial services institutions through their foreign exchange desks, where it’s the most effective way of sharing the daily trade book from one region of the world to the next,” said Lawlor. “Then other parts of the business find it useful for, say, distributing research and ongoing information about trades, deals and other market activity.”

When UBS wanted to get away from the old-fashioned “squawk box” and improve communication and collaboration among its global squad of traders, it found an ideal solution in Parlano’s MindAlign.

Parlano, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, designed MindAlign to fit the needs of financial services firms. It’s an instant messaging (IM) and persistent-group-chat solution that can handle the large volumes and other requirements. Britain’s Standard Chartered Bank, another Parlano customer, rejected solutions based on UNIX, Linux, Oracle and Solaris as too costly. MindAlign, however, runs on the Microsoft Windows Server System infrastructure software. With some 30,000 employees spread across 500 offices in more than 50 countries, Standard Chartered wanted a “best-of-breed application on a best-of-breed operating system,” said Anthony Hodge, dealing services regional senior at the diversified banking concern.

Whether urgent market data, buy and sell opinions, news updates, research or other data, the information must be exchanged quickly and to a broad group of participants to seize opportunities ahead of the competition. “The communication has to happen in real-time, coordinating multiple functional areas and spanning locations around the world,” said Jeff Schultz, Parlano’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing.

To coordinate this rapid and vast exchange, MindAlign is tailored to fit each customer’s structure and operations. Before deployment, Parlano works with clients to define their likely topics of discussion. It then sets up discrete “channels” or chat rooms which “correspond to key subject areas, such as specific market sectors, countries, commodities, customers or individual securities,” said Schultz. “News, ideas, decisions, research reports or whatever can be posted to the proper channels.”

The different channels appear on a computer monitor. Users can easily scan the information flow, including how many new messages are unread and where people are posting the most, and then click on areas of particular interest.

For Lawlor, who did not endorse one vendor or brand over another, that kind of understanding of what’s important to users is critical. (Lawlor didn’t reveal if Deutsche Bank was actually a MindAlign user, though he acknowledged that Parlano has “a significant market share in financial services.”) What distinguishes one product from another starts with how closely the vendor follows the users’ workflow.

“Does he or she understand the specific requirements of financial services organizations?” Lawlor stressed. “When I log on, I should be able to see all the channels I’m a member of and rapidly tell where conversation is occurring and if there are urgent messages I might have missed. The display should immediately draw my attention to where it needs to be.”

To avoid overwhelming users with too much information all at once, MindAlign continuously sorts out where the information flow is heaviest. Participants can quickly zero in on urgent items without having to sort through chatter. At the same time, research analysts can distribute reports to readers around the world with a simple mouse click and receive instantaneous reactions and questions. They can send answers promptly, and the answers are available for all participants to read and learn from so the analyst doesn’t have to re-answer the same question over and over again.

New information stays posted on the channel so that anyone who isn’t online at the time can retrieve it later. This means an item posted first thing in the morning in London can be picked up by colleagues in New York when they get to their desks five hours later.

Defining specific channels is key, but MindAlign also employs “filters” which allow users to mark certain words, terms and phrases as especially important. When those items come up in any channel to which the user is subscribed, he or she is notified immediately. The system even stores filter notifications for later review. “When a particular stock or currency is mentioned in any of my channels, I won’t miss it,” Schultz explained.

Lawlor pointed out that a good system must support what could be thousands of users per channel at a time. “Not every product can handle that,” he cautioned. Interoperability is a crucial priority, too – that is, can the system work with other manufacturers’ technology? “You need the ability to contact your clients and counterparties at other companies which may use a different system,” Lawlor asserted.

MindAlign works seamlessly with its brand-name counterparts such as AOL, Yahoo! and MSN chat software, which is essential for firms that do business with smaller brokerages that depend on these better-known competitors.

Another requirement for Lawlor: The system should allow for Web-based instant messaging with customers. “Many companies want to enhance their Web presence so that, if a customer is looking at a page that describes a particular stock, bond or other instrument, the customer can click a link to chat with a trader or salesperson,” he said.

This, too, is a feature Parlano offers.

Security and privacy are also big concerns. MindAlign uses a “highly secure encryption capability” that works with the customer’s own identity management protocol, said Schultz. Moreover, to meet compliance regulations, MindAlign can be set up with customized internal virtual walls to prevent communications between certain groups such as the mergers and acquisitions team and traders, which is prohibited by law. Further, it bars one-on-one chats and secret messaging so “nothing inappropriate can happen,” Schultz added.

In addition, MindAlign supports compliance vendors such as Symantec’s IMlogic, which monitors, secures and archives instant-messaging traffic for later review. “We can do a permanent log of what was said on every channel and who was active at the time, which is important from a legal perspective, in case the firm’s communications are ever audited,” said Schultz.

For many users, introducing IM and chat capabilities isn’t a big adjustment. Most readily understand how to post messages and where to look to keep up with relevant developments. “On the trading floors of any sell-side firm or major broker/dealer, you’ll likely find people running at least two different instant messaging systems and sometimes as many as five at once,” said Lawlor.

The learning curve is surprisingly fast. At UBS, the financial services arm of German banking giant UBS AG, trade flows with one corporate client jumped 500 percent within three months of launching MindAlign. At last count, some 35,000 UBS professionals posted more than 80 million messages per month on 20,000 chat channels. “We have MindAlign channels for virtually every topic discussed at UBS,” said UBS’ Scot Lynch, a managing director.

Nevertheless, Parlano visits every user after installation to answer questions and make sure the application works smoothly. “Some folks are very specific about how their monitors are arranged. They want e-mail in one location, a news feed in another and MindAlign in a third. We hand-hold until everything is up and running as they want it,” said Schultz.

Of course, glitches can and do occur. Parlano maintains substantial support operations and works with customers’ own tech teams to keep it running smoothly. “We don’t host the system,” Schultz said. “It’s installed on the customer’s premises.”

The costs of MindAlign vary, largely depending on the size and scope of the deployment, but typically come to several hundred dollars per user, plus a small annual maintenance fee. “It can add up to a hefty purchase, but it’s much less than having a Bloomberg terminal, which runs in the thousands per user every month,” observed Schultz. “But there’s a solid return on the investment.”

That return could come in the form of improved productivity, reduced redundancy thanks to streamlined communications, or the unveiling of opportunities that would have been missed otherwise. The proof is in the technology’s ballooning popularity – and not just among financial organizations. IT professionals use MindAlign to coordinate responses to system failures, for example. “If a server is down, they can manage the crisis more effectively over a chat system than by sending e-mail to one another,” asserted Schultz. “MindAlign is being used in cases we did not anticipate early on.”

In February Parlano launched a mobile version that can run on Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Palm Treo handheld devices. Parlano recommends users choose a manageable subset of channels to display on their portable devices’ smaller screens. Filters remain active, however, so if a key word or phrase comes up on any channel, even if it’s not actively visible on the mobile device, the device can ring, flash or vibrate.

Other enhancements and improvements are underway. For instance, MindAlign will soon be capable of interacting with video- and Web-based conferencing and other telecommunications applications. It is fully integrated with Microsoft LCS. “Once you have a group of professionals organized around important topics, it’s a natural extension to initiate a Web conference with charts and graphics or just a conference call,” said Schultz.

From Lawlor’s perspective, for businesses that are heavily dependent on the speedy flow of information and ideas, instant messaging and chat can give users a leg up on the competition. “You can see the value of this technology just by the amount of investment that’s already gone into it,” said Lawlor. “The productivity gains for all concerned are incalculable.”

www.db.com

www.parlano.com

www.ubs.com