TechnologyMay 28 2020

What tools are available for client data storage?

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What tools are available for client data storage?

The government-imposed lockdown in the UK has forced the adviser community to leave behind the office environment and work from home.

It has brought into sharp focus the need to be able to access client documents remotely.

So if client files are sitting in filing cabinets and are not accessible elsewhere, advisers and brokers may have found themselves somewhat constrained by the current situation.

Fortunately, there has been a move to migrating client files and data online, partly in response to regulation, and many adviser companies will have already done so.

Conor Murphy, chief executive of Smartr365, says: “I think over the past couple of years, most firms have started to make some steps in that direction. So I don’t believe there are that many firms where everything is stored physically these days.”

But he adds that if you did not have those processes in place already, lockdown would be very challenging.

Mr Murphy explains: “Traditionally, what’s happened is lots of mortgage brokers have used an analogue process where there’s been lots of paper and hard files in filing cabinets. The problem with that is, how do you get the papers to the person, given the current environment?

“Also, how do you get access to that ongoing, for both parties?”

Range of tools

Increased demand for client data storage solutions means there are a range of tools for advisers to choose from should they be weighing up their options now.

Having a secure online storage for all-important documents and a secure means of communicating with clients reduces the cost of client servicing by saving processing time, postage and printing costs  Nick Eatock Intelliflo

Andrew Beckett, managing director and EMEA cyber risk practice lead at Kroll, a division of Duff and Phelps, observes: “There are a lot of fairly well-established online service providers for this, so no company should be short of choice when it comes to finding a vendor.”

For, Smartr365,an end-to-end software platform specifically for mortgage advisers, cloud-based technology has proved beneficial here.

“What that means is that clients are able to upload the documentation themselves directly into the application,”  explains Mr Murphy.  

“Once they have uploaded the documentation it’s stored on the cloud and then it’s available to both parties – the adviser and the client – from anywhere in the world.”

Nick Eatock is chief executive of Intelliflo, which provides business management software, called Intelligent Office, to UK financial advisers.

He says that its Personal Finance Portal provides a tool on which to view financial information and interact via a secure online “hub” anywhere and on any device.

“Having a secure online storage for all-important documents and a secure means of communicating with clients not only helps advisers adhere to GDPR rules but also reduces the cost of client servicing by saving processing time, postage and printing costs,” he explains.

“We've just introduced two-factor authentication as well to make this even more secure.”

For advisers and brokers who are yet to transition to an online storage tool for their client data, it is still possible to migrate now.

In fact, the ongoing lockdown has spurred some adviser companies to start shopping around for a data storage provider if they had not already started.

Mr Murphy says Smartr365 has seen a “big uptick in interest” from the mortgage industry.

“We’ve had lots of firms that we’ve spoken to before who previously said that they were interested but it wasn’t a top priority four, five or six months ago, who have then come back to us proactively and said, ‘now we are very keen to do this’.”

Doing the legwork

There are huge benefits, particularly for smaller businesses, in using cloud-based services, according to Mr Beckett.

But it pays to do the research and legwork, as he attests: “You need to do some work upfront in thinking about your data and requirements for it and access to it, specifying appropriate requirements to give to the vendors who are asking to bid for the work or are providing a price, and making sure the contract is appropriate.”

When choosing a third party to outsource to, the Financial Conduct Authority differentiates between storage and processing. Mr Beckett notes that adviser firms must consider what it is they want to happen to the data and ask, is it just being stored or processed as well?

The nature of the data is also important, given that much of it will be considered sensitive personal data under GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act 2019, Mr Beckett adds.

“For the most sensitive data, I would also suggest companies should be reserving the right to come in and view, and ask to see records relating to their data,” he explains.

“And then, because breaches are so prevalent, they need to ensure in the contract with the service provider that things like support for an investigation to discover what happened, what data has been affected, who the individuals are whose data has been compromised, that is all part of the contract,” he says.

“If the worst comes to the worst and you want to terminate that service provider following a breach, that you contractually have the right to get your data back in a timely manner so you can continue to provide services to your customers.”

In terms of a timeline for the process of finding a vendor and then finally migrating the data, Mr Beckett estimates that advisers should anticipate it taking around two months, dependent on the type and volume of data.

He adds: “So doing your due diligence, writing a proper requirements document before you go out to your vendors will be time well spent.”

Ellie Duncan is a freelance journalist