A couple of years ago The Lang Cat published a paper titled ‘Platforms are dead’.
Clickbait headline aside, at the time we had worries that platform technology was delivering very little in the way of benefits for anyone concerned. Many providers were (and still are) being forced to have huge operations in place to support the technology. STP meant ‘straight to printer’ (to be re-keyed into the system) rather than ‘straight through processing’.
Advisers bemoaned the terrible user experience, lack of integration and reliance on paper that many platforms imposed. And finally, for the poor old client the experience was normally pretty substandard. A secure portal, that was unavailable most weekends, basically provided a valuation and not much else. Put simply, the promise of platform technology making life easier for all concerned had failed to become a reality.
Death greatly exaggerated
As amusing as the headline was, platforms are not really dead: they are alive and in reasonably rude health. However, most are addressing the technology challenge in one way or another. If you are an adviser using a platform then more likely than not you are currently, or are about to be part of, a replatforming exercise.
This is where a provider either upgrades their technology from one core system to another, or migrates to a completely different technology supplier. Either way it is likely to impact advisers and their clients, and with our data showing that around £294bn of assets – from a total market around £517bn – are currently being (or have just been) replatformed, it is a big issue for advisers to be aware of. Add in wider provider changes, such as mergers and IPOs, and almost 90 per cent of platform assets will be impacted by some sort of change over the coming years. Whoever you use, you are very likely to be impacted.
Key Points
Many platforms are upgrading their technology so that most advisers will be affected by it
From a provider's perspective, upgrading is a very challenging process
Aviva especially has been affected by these issues in recent weeks
If any advisers need a reminder as to why this is such a big issue, then they are probably not currently using Aviva. The problems our friends in York have been having since migrating to their new FNZ-powered platform in January have been widely documented, and while at the time of writing there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel, with most of the serious bugs being fixed, the scale of the change is causing huge problems for all concerned.
There are a number of faults with the system, beyond that it has changed and is unfamiliar. Advisers need help and training to work out what to do, and the support teams and call centres get swamped as a result. All in all, a very unpleasant experience.
From a provider’s point of view, you can not emphasise enough just how challenging these projects are to deliver. The best way to describe it is like trying to change the engine in your car, while you are travelling at 70mph along the motorway. With existing customers to carry on serving, and new business to keep writing, it is not possible to ‘switch off’ the old system and close down for a few weeks while the new one is fully implemented. Sooner or later, no matter how hard you test the new system, you are going to have to make that leap of faith and set things live. And that tends to be when the fun starts.
Communication is key
Communication from providers to advisers is absolutely critical throughout these exercises. Indeed, if you are using a platform that you know is going through one of these exercises and they are not keeping advisers informed as to progress and impacts on your clients, this is a big red flag that further pain is to come your way.
These communications will start months in advance of the go live date, especially if there is a change to the client terms and conditions. In the projects we have been involved in it is not unusual for the communication plans to start rolling out at least six months prior to going live, with further training and support ramping up nearer the big day.
The problem with this approach to communications is it creates further pressure on the project itself. On the one hand everyone agrees it is really important to keep advisers and their clients informed, but as outlined above this ball often starts rolling several months before ‘go live’.
The momentum of the communication plan can often clash badly with the reality of the project, especially during the testing phase. Making the decision to delay the launch if the testing needs more time can be tricky if you have already told the market when you expect to go live.
Forensic management
Of course, the answer to this from a provider’s perspective is that they need to ensure the project is forensically managed throughout, especially ensuring the external communications and readiness plans are fully aligned to the project delivery and operational readiness plans.
Every area of the provider organisation will be impacted by this change, but especially sales and operations. If the project does not have full control and visibility of the readiness plans for each area then there is a danger the staff involved will feel the change is being imposed on them. This will in turn make it harder for them to do their jobs and support advisers when the time comes.
But enough of the sympathy for providers. As challenging as these projects are, there is still not enough recognition, industry wide, that these projects will inevitably impact advisers and their clients.
Aviva is the most recent example of this, but there are many others. Providers need to do more to support advisers through these changes and minimise the disruption to their businesses. This is not just a communications and training issue.
If things are changing you can expect call centres to be swamped, with a toxic combination of increased call volumes and length. The operational readiness is as important as the marketing communications. Both need to be exceptional.
If some providers are failing to recognise how hard these projects are to deliver, and the importance of ensuring the business readiness plan is as robust as possible, then I also think that accusation can be made to some advisers. If your platform is going through these changes it is not good enough to simply sit back and expect everything to work perfectly on day one.
You need to implement your own business readiness plan, identifying the impacts of the change and ensuring all the adviser staff are fully prepared. By working in partnership with the provider, who should be able to give you all the support you need, advisers can go a long way to minimising the pain of any future replatforming.
Mike Barrett is consulting director of The Lang Cat
