21 Feb 2003: Scherrer Uses XML in Hybrid Web Ally CRM for Brokers

Scherrer Resources Inc. has incorporated XML into its product line of client relationship management systems, with the introduction of its new Web Ally, targetted at the financial services marketplace. The company, based in Eagle, Penn., is pitching Web Ally as an eCRM component-based plug-in to platform offerings used by broker/dealers and financial advisors, among other financial services professionals.

The Broker's Ally component of the Web Ally suite has been designed specifically for the investment advisor. It provides web-based contact management, calendaring, campaign management, proposal management, collaboration communication, and asset tracking. Its purpose is to allow account reps and assistants to work easily together in instances where they wish to use the browser for access, may be located at a distance from each other, and to work together to support client and prospect activities.

Other modules allow corporate recruiting teams to track the recruiting process, and sales managers in organizing territories and sales force activities while also supporting compliance office review of account activity.

Web Ally utilizes a web browser to access a central web server database, so that there is no need for local software installation. Web Ally gives its users the full benefits of a streamlined client/server application, without being confined to the desktop, yet provides synchronization to the client/server desktop version of the Ally CRM software. Through the use of the web browser, the software exploits its platform independence and its server-side installation, which significantly reduces development and deployment costs.

The Web Ally hosted option is capable of hosting thousands of concurrent users accessing the Web Ally site. The Web Ally in-house option's architecture is flexible, so that there are several ways of meeting clients' requirements with respect to scalability.

Because Web Ally is built with industry-standard and portable application code, including XML, there are many options for platforms and application architectures.

For example, one configuration offering optimum scalability would be running Web Ally on an IBM Web Sphere Application Architecture. This configuration could allow the application to process as many as 10 million hits per day with a single CPU and as many as 40 million hits per day with a four-CPU server. For greater scalability, servers can be clustered and the application and processing load can be distributed across multiple servers.

The Web Ally software design and development team has optimized the three main factors that affect web application performance and scalability:

1. The web application and database architecture was configured to be scalable and extensible;

2. The network infrastructure supports scaling up to large numbers of users; and

3. The web application design considers scaling to be a key aspect of the installation requirements.

The application architecture for Web Ally can be either hosted in-house by the client or on the Web Ally hosting environment. Web Ally is built on a Cold Fusion/Java platform with a Microsoft SQL Server database. The Web Ally Application can be hosted on a variety of operating systems including Windows, UNIX and Linux.

Web Ally is fully customizable for or by a particular customer. Web Ally's portlet architecture allows functional units to be turned on and off for the particular needs of each client. Web Ally has been created with a logical separation between the business logic and the database layer allowing it to be customized to match a client's existing intranet site. Web Ally is built with a Web Based Architecture, and thus no deployment process is necessary for the application code. This allows changes to be made and take effect for all users immediately.

Web Ally gives clients a great deal of flexibility through the use of user roles. For example, an administrator can view site statistics and monitor usage as well as add new custom fields and manage the discussion forums. End user account representatives who own particular accounts can modify that data while other account representatives or assistants may only be able to view it.

Web Ally supports both the rep-centric view and the client-centric view of data. This ability includes access by external facing clients and users to access project and proposal information only for their particular account. An account rep has the option of invoking access by his or her clients, thus triggering a client view of transactions, holdings, project financial plans and to update their demographic information.

For Scherrer, the Web Ally suite represents its next-generation platform for enhancing the management of relationships for investment advisors within banks, broker/dealers, insurance companies, CPAs, planning firms, clearing service bureaus, and money management firms.

The client/server-based Broker's Ally desktop features a new module that allows it to connect to the WebAlly database. This can be used to enable the user to 'download' and 'synchronize' information to the desktop or notebook and to act 'untethered' from the Internet.

Scherrer claims the combined product suite - comprising Broker's Ally, Advisor's Ally and Web Ally - provides a number of powerful benefits, including:

  • Improved client satisfaction

  • Increased revenue per client

  • Improved advisor retention

  • Automated manual processes

  • Reduced cost of customer management

  • More efficient high-touch relationships

  • Helps advisors stay on top of their business

  • Mitigated compliance issues

  • Makes advisors more effective sellers

  • Speeds prospecting for new business

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