InvestmentData Technologies(IDT) has constructed a new tool for financial advisers to assist them in choosing the optimum software for their businesses, rather than just the most popular software on the market.
The free tool — a functional spreadsheet — takes advisers through a three-step process, which identifies their software needs, the options available to them on the market and minimisation of any software implementation problems they may face.
IDT client services manager Ian Caldwell-Smith says the tool does not evaluate existing players within the market, but instead provides a structural methodology that allows advisers to make their own initial short list of software providers and determine the characteristics they should look for in a final candidate.
Caldwell-Smith says that software vendors are often popular for a short time, with advisers tending to adopt a herd mentality and opting for the most popular product — thinking it is the best choice for their business.
He says this often results in advisers paying hard earned money for something that doesn’t suit their business and leads to productivity losses.
The tool was developed by simplifying and tailoring the same process banks and insurance companies go through with IDT when searching for their own ideal software solution.
Caldwell-Smith says that planners should use the tool to avoid making wrong decisions and because it provides them with some expertise to aid their decisions.
The tool is expected to be available on the IDT web site by the end of May.
