There is a problem supporting two distinct platforms. Not only is it costly, but it can be confusing to end-users. For example, a number of advisors I talked with believed Fidelity was offering its advisor clients a desktop version of NaviPlan, when in fact it is offering NaviPlan Offline. Without detailing the merits of one vs. the other, it is fair to say that someone moving from Desktop to Offline would require a period of adjustment.

Eventually, it's likely all NaviPlan desktop users will be required to learn a new interface, because over the long run EISI can operate more efficiently and profitably concentrating its efforts on the Web platform. Assuming price parity, end users would benefit from the change as well, since they would gain additional benefits while maintaining all of the features they currently enjoy.

The greatest threat to EISI's continued growth may come from within. Over the last few years, the firm has managed to grow at an impressive but controlled pace, without overextending itself financially or technologically. EISI now appears to have the critical mass and the product to take the company to the next level, provided that they continue to make the right decisions. Management has made all the right moves. The question is, will they continue to do so as the company moves to the next level?

If EISI continues to expand its market share, as seems likely right now, its growth could have a profound impact on the financial planning profession. On a positive note, many advisors will have better financial planning tools at their disposal. Assuming that they are properly trained, this should result in a better product for the client.

At the institutional level, EISI is grabbing market share, perhaps indicating trouble for some competitors in that space. (In April, AXA Advisors LLC announced that it would install NaviPlan Enterprise Solution nationwide, replacing Financial Profiles, its current software provider.) Smaller financial planning firms that service the boutique financial planning shops may also feel the heat as EISI moves its Web-based platform downmarket.

For smaller independent planners, the news is mixed. In the immediate future they may experience frustration at the inability of EISI to deliver to them the same cutting-edge platform that the big boys are receiving. Independents may have to pass through a transitional phase, where they can't get exactly what the want from EISI in the way they want it.

In the medium term, however, EISI's development projects at the large institutions should empower the company to produce a highly competitive turnkey solution for smaller firms, leading to greater efficiencies.

A turnkey Web version would also be a great boon to the budding profession of virtual financial planners. Financial advisors who do not write financial plans in-house can contract the plan-writing chores to these independent contractors, who will do it for them. In effect, these "planners for hire" perform the same task for independent firms that the centralized financial planning offices perform for some of the large firms. One obstacle to the growth of virtual planners is the issue of control. It is a good bet that more firms would embrace the concept of virtual financial planners if all the client records resided solely on the firm's servers at all times, with the virtual planner's access being monitored and controlled internally.

Longer term, there is a risk that many software providers-smaller players and those selling sales-oriented software-will be forced out of the market. If NaviPlan's financial planning software can integrate with a wide range other types of programs (CRM, portfolio management, analytics), and competing financial planning programs can't, NaviPlan will possess a unique advantage that competitors will be hard-pressed to overcome. The result could be fewer choices for advisors and price increases.

Similar occurrences in the past have sometimes led to declines in service and/or higher prices. There is no evidence that EISI has plans to act as a market bully, but as its power grows it may prove difficult to resist the urge to capitalize on its clout. Smaller firms in particular may grow increasingly uncomfortable.