Industry Perspectives

2009-2010 Briefings

Industry Perspectives provide readers with thought-provoking content and insight into Investment Management technology and operations.  Citisoft provides perspective on leading industry practices and challenges facing the global buy-side community.

February 2010

Buy-Side Merger Integration: New Challeneges, New Opportunities
2 February 2010

In 2009, investment management merger, acquisition, and divestiture activity accelerated rapidly in the name of economic survival and competitive positioning. In 2010, high-profile acquisition activity is expected to continue. Throughout the industry, acquiring or acquired firms are facing the acute challenges associated with integrating their operations and technology platforms for 'Legal Day One' and beyond. And while establishing a common investment management infrastructure is a means to achieving significant cost savings, those tasked with merger integration in today's risk and cost-averse climate are faced with some familiar and some new challenges. In this edition of Industry Perspectives, Citisoft presents our view on some of the challenges facing acquirers and acquirees alike and offers some proven, pragmatic solutions for resolving critical integration issues.

December 2009

Unlocking Hidden Potential
1 December 2009

Investment management firms have invested heavily in strategic business applications over the past two to three years but discretionary spending cutbacks have left many projects on-hold or subject to limited deployment. As a result, strategic projects have fallen short of their expected ROI. With spending expected to take three plus years to return to 2007 levels, unlocking the hidden potential of these stalled or incomplete strategic deployments may prove to be an organization’s most potent and pragmatic enablers for optimization.

July 2009

Successful Project Delivery
21 July 2009

The stakes today are simply too high for those business or technology change initiatives that have secured funding to fail. In addition, Project Owners and Sponsors must continually demonstrate a clear-cut ability to deliver near-term financial ROI and stated business and/or technology objectives. Given these pressures, it is imperative that a framework for delivery success be established and maintained throughout the life of a project. This edition of Industry Perspectives details some of the valuable 'Critical Success Factors' that Citisoft has observed and employed in two plus decades of services delivery to the buy-side. These factors consistently contribute to the ultimate success or failure of a project and are offered to help validate whether your firm's in-flight or near-term initiatives are on-track for meeting today's lofty expectations or require immediate corrective action.


PORTIA® Upgrade & Conversion Services

11 August 2009

With the substantial functionality, database and technology changes inherent in Thomson Reuters' current and future releases of PORTIA, hundreds of investment managers are faced with a complex, non-trivial upgrade effort that is actually more akin to a new system implementation. Given the complexity and business risk associated with such an invasive, high-profile technology initiative, how do firms ensure implementation success? Citisoft is assisting some of the industry's largest, global PORTIA users define and execute their upgrade and conversion strategies. Citisoft's breadth and depth of expertise helps our clients answer the tough strategic, scoping, planning and project approach questions; as well as successfully deliver their projects in a practical and cost-conscious manner.