Ever since the beginning of the financial crisis the investment fund industry has been plunged into a period of intense regulatory remodeling that has created a sea of change for asset managers. Firms have been busy plugging the holes of their data management processes to comply with the ever growing number of data points they […]
Archive | Operations Management
Good in Theory, Bad in Accounting Practice
The conventional wisdom is that “Global is Good”. Whatever makes it easier for trade and capital to cross borders brings prosperity to everyone. So it only makes sense that all financial statement preparation follows the same rules as well. Then we can use those financial statements to do an apples to apples comparison of companies; […]
Finally an Impetus to Escape from Spreadsheet Hell?
Who wouldn’t agree that spreadsheets are risky? One small error in a formula or misplaced decimal point can be devastating. Just ask Tibco Software Inc. who discovered that its stockholders received about $100 million less than planned (in an approximately $4 billion sale to Vista Equity Group) because of a spreadsheet error which caused a […]
Six Degrees of Separation: How Technology Drives Globalization
By Domenic Ionadi on October 15, 2014 in Industry Trends, Operations Management, Process Methodology
The world is becoming smaller. It’s true that the physical nature of the landscape hasn’t changed, however in terms of global business and communication, the increased interconnectivity of the globe frees us from the limitations of physical distance, and instead allows us to think about expansion where it may have been previously impossible. Information now […]
What will the Financial Back Office of Tomorrow Look Like?
Originally published 7/31/14 in WallStreet & Technology One of the toughest jobs we face as a technology solutions provider is predicting future needs of the industry as it evolves and becomes more technologically sophisticated. At Confluence, we believe the fund industry back office of tomorrow will rely on a far greater degree of workflow automation […]
The Decision: In-House vs. Outsourcing
Business and technology trends are constantly evolving around us and tend to influence the direction of large, complex decisions within an organization. In today’s environment of cost reduction, expense scrutiny, and lean/efficient processes, every organization must determine whether a particular function or service should be performed in-house or be outsourced to another vendor. Through my […]
There’s No Such Thing as a Best Practice
Many years ago some friends and I went to an outdoor concert. The music was great, the weather was perfect, and there were lots of people taking off their shoes to dance barefoot in the grass. My friend was one of them. The show ended late and as the crowd dispersed in near total darkness, my […]
Put Your Money Where Your Meeting Is
A fact of life is that the life of a typical business professional is filled with meetings. This can be good, bad, or indifferent depending on your perspective. There are those who consider all meetings to be a waste of time and others who find value in just about every encounter. Since personal bias varies, […]
Lighthouse Clients Shine Their Light on MVPs
Coming home from a client visit recently where an MVP took center stage in all the right ways, it occurred to me to examine how Confluence defines and views an MVP and why it is so misunderstood and misused in software development today. First off, what is the official definition of MVP? While you can […]
Buggy Whips, Kodak Film and Typesetting
I’m willing to bet there is a new generation that has never brought a roll of film to a PhotoHut to be developed–just as I have never used a buggy whip. And soon, we’ll have a generation that has no concept of traditional typesetting. When I first started out in the investment management industry many […]