Hortz: How specifically did you go about building the right technology to solve client problems?
Halligan: First and foremost, we listen to our clients and next closely follow industry trends. The current MARS platform and its related services are the result of a collaboration of feedback from our clients and changes in the asset management industry. Where we didn’t have expertise, we hired the right resources. For example, when we built our bi-directional, real time Salesforce.com synchronization package, we hired Salesforce.com developers.
We also look to partner with leading technological firms to enhance our offering. We have current partnerships with leaders in the technology space Apple, Google, Microsoft, MicroStrategy, Oracle, Salesforce.com and Sungard.
Early on in the mobile space, we saw a need for an external sales teams to have information readily available to them in the field. Our first foray into the mobile space was on a Palm device, then the Blackberry, and now iOS devices. We evolved our solutions with our clients. When the trend began for firms to adopt enterprise CRM solutions, rather than business specific ones, we changed our model to integrate with other CRMs so our clients could continue to leverage the core reporting and data analysis engine of MARS.
Hortz: Why do you feel it so important for financial services firms and FinTech companies to build strong strategic partnerships versus having a typical client/vendor relationship
Halligan: Partnerships are two way relationships that endure over time if they learn how to work collaboratively. That makes them strategic partnerships. Our primary focus is to ensure we understand our client’s business needs. Even though our sole focus is on the asset management and insurance industries, we realize each of our clients may have different operating models. That is why we do not provide a confined, restrictive solution. We work with each client to ensure that MARS is set up to satisfy their specific needs.
If financial services firms and FinTech companies don’t have this tight knit partnership in place, the financial services firm will at some point encounter a challenge with their vendor that may not be able to be solved, thus dissolving the relationship. In the partnership model, both sides listen to each other, and the FinTech company can develop multiple solutions for the financial services firm to choose from, rather than restricting them to a one size fits all solution.
Hortz: What are some examples of your “professional services” offering you refer to in your website?
Halligan: We offer a variety of professional services to both our MARS product suite clients and to firms that are not MARS clients. For non-clients, we have provided data cleansing services for asset management firms experiencing challenges with their data and needed a quick turn around on providing accurate and reliable data. For our clients, our professional services include, but are not limited to, client specific enhancements, CRM integration consulting, technological efficiency consulting, advanced MARS training and system audits as it relates to data feeds and historical data cleansing.
Hortz: Can you give us some examples how the two sides of the relationship can evolve and grow together?