Microsoft has created a Web services software package to make it easier for
financial advisers to access customers’ information.
Microsoft Advisor Platform lets investment planners and wealth managers use
a service-oriented architecture (SOA)
proprietary software systems and render the information through one portal.
The package is part of Microsoft’s goal to improve the way financial
advisers serve their customers, as the portfolios of wealth-management
clients become increasingly sophisticated, the Redmond, Wash., company said
in a statement.
Advisers will access client information through the portal to offer their
clients more holistic advice, increase cross-selling opportunities and
enhance regulatory compliance. Advisers could use this portal to seek out
and profile potential clients and create financial plans.
The portal may be a convenient way for planners to collate customer
information, but a matrix of disparate data sources and applications
connected through Web services sits behind it.
Partner applications and
Microsoft technologies, such as SQL Server, Microsoft BizTalk Server and
Microsoft Office Live Communications Server support it.
Microsoft worked with several partners to launch the Advisor, including
AdviceAmerica Inc., Avanade, Blue Frog Solutions Inc., Capgemini, Genesys
Telecommunications Laboratories, Impact Technologies Group and
XDimensional Technologies (XDTI).
Products such as Advisor are part of an ongoing trend in which customers are
adopting SOAs to reuse assets, strip out inefficiencies and save IT staffs
time.
With .NET as its base platform, Microsoft hopes to continue to wend its way
into corporate networks with Web services to help employees do their jobs
better.