kloudtrack® (Saas|Cloud) Platform
The Human Side of Compliance®
Simple | Powerful | Affordable
kloudtrack® is a Software-as-a-Service and Cloud Computing
(SaaS-Cloud) solutions company offering Governance, Risk
Management and Compliance (GRC) technologies for Business
Process Management and Human Interaction workflow.
kloudtrack® integrates best-practices management with audit-trails
that place a premium on monitoring users, data, transparency
and collaborative processes.
Lincoln Financial Network/
Lincoln Securities Corporation
Finding Solutions in the Cloud
Case Study
ROI Benchmarks in Financial Services are Proving the
Value of SaaS|Cloud for Data Management, Workflow,
Archiving/Retrieval, GRC, Supervisory Processes and
Best-Practice Management
The emergence of sophisticated Cloud
2.0™ Software-as-a-Service and Cloud
Computing (SaaS|Cloud) platforms is
allowing enterprise management teams
to quickly and efficiently deploy applications and capabilities that were
traditionally only available from a “big iron” provider and at price levels
that usually start in the 6-figure range per year.
This ROI Benchmark Case Study comes out of the Financial Services
industry – the securities broker-dealer community to be exact – and relates
directly to the use of SaaS platforms in instances of regulatory audit.
Compliance, Risk Mitigation and Audit Response
Fertile Ground for SaaS Technology ROI
This kloudtrack® ROI Benchmark Case Study comes out of the Financial
Services sector; however, the business issues – business process
management, document archiving/retrieval, workflow, compliance, risk
mitigation and best-practices – are exactly the same for just about any
industry segment.
stop | think | go | kloud™
Kloudtrack Lincoln Case Study.indd 1
kloudtrack® modules include:
kloudfile™
Document Management
Secure, Store, Retain, Retrieve
kloudflow™
Process, Track, Report, Audit
kloudcapture™
Paper to PC, Legacy Data to Cloud
Barcodes/Zonal OCR, Scan
kloudexchange™
Data Import/Export, Integration of
Disparate Data, Reporting & Analytics
kloudmedia™
Multimedia, Editing, Training/
Education, Compliance, Social Media
kloudreportal™
Business Intelligence, Metadata
Reporting & Analytics
kloudcash™
AR/AP Workflow, Check Processing
OCR/Bar Coding, ACH/Check21
kloudsign™
Digital Signatures or Ceremonies,
Full Audit-Trails
www.kloudtrack.com
2/8/12 9:21 PM
kloudtrack® (Saas|Cloud) Platform
The Human Side of Compliance®
Simple | Powerful | Affordable
At the time of the study, Alan Pransky was a producing
representative and registered principal for Patriot
Financial. With offices located throughout New England,
Patriot is one of the fastest-growing regional financial
management firms in the region. In addition to operating
multiple branch offices throughout the greater-Boston
area, Patriot also serves as an Office of Supervisory
Jurisdiction (OSJ) for broker-dealer Lincoln Securities
Corporation (LSC).
As is usual for branch offices of large independent
broker-dealers (IBDs), Patriot is regularly reviewed by
broker-dealer “home office” compliance officers and is
also required to adhere to regulations and guidelines
of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA,
formerly NASD), state regulators and the Securities
Exchange Commission (SEC).
When regulators request information, Alan and his team
members have 24 hours to research and acquire the
necessary information and then transmit it to the home
office. Since these requests are always unexpected they
cannot be budgeted for and, as such, require additional
costs to the office and the individual.
Over the past 2 years, Patriot and the broker-dealer’s
home office corporate compliance and IT teams
reviewed and approved various solutions, including
kloudtrack® SaaS|Cloud technologies, for use at
their branch and OSJ offices for books and records
maintenance, written supervisory procedures (WSPs),
compliance, risk mitigation and to assist with ensuring
best-practices related to business process management
(BPM).
Shortly after this corporate approval, Patriot deployed
the two primary kloudtrack® Modules – kloudfile™ and
kloudflow™ – in a pilot program designed to address
Kloudtrack Lincoln Case Study.indd 2
kloudtrack® is a Software-as-a-Service and Cloud Computing (SaaS-Cloud)
solutions company offering Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC)
technologies for Business Process Management and Human Interaction workflow.
kloudtrack® extends legacy IT platforms to the cloud while integrating best-practice
management with audit-trails. This approach places a premium on monitoring data
and process stakeholders via transparency and secure collaboration.
“Since kloudtrack
was implemented my sales
productivity has tripled over the same period of
the previous year.
®
In March, we were having our quarterly
compliance meeting when we were notified
DURING THE MEETING that a recent FINRA
Home Office Audit had selected several of our
variable annuity accounts for further review
under FINRA compliance guidelines.
”
— Alan Pransky, Patriot Financial
data/document management, WSPs, workflow/business
process management, compliance and risk mitigation.
Using the kloudtrack® kloudfileModule, Patriot
immediately began converting hardcopy account
records into digital data using basic OCR scanners and
easily uploading the information to the kloudtrack®
SaaS|Cloud platform.
Beyond simple electronic storage, kloudtrack®
incorporates complex search and retrieval functions and
full workflow capabilities (kloudflowModule) that allow
team members and executive management alike to
share records in a secure environment with an audit trail
of accountability built-in.
“In March, we were having our quarterly compliance
meeting when we were notified during the meeting that
a recent FINRA Home Office Audit had selected several
of our variable annuity accounts for further review
under FINRA compliance guidelines. We conducted a
Benchmark ROI Study for that single regulatory review
instance and calculated a hard-dollar savings of more
2/8/12 9:21 PM
kloudtrack® (Saas|Cloud) Platform
The Human Side of Compliance®
Simple | Powerful | Affordable
kloudtrack® is a Software-as-a-Service and Cloud Computing (SaaS-Cloud)
solutions company offering Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC)
technologies for Business Process Management and Human Interaction workflow.
kloudtrack® extends legacy IT platforms to the cloud while integrating best-practice
management with audit-trails. This approach places a premium on monitoring data
and process stakeholders via transparency and secure collaboration.
than $4,000 when the metrics of lost business and
down-time various team members were calculated.”
and by being able to put client investment dollars to
work quicker.
In this instance, before the end of the meeting the home
office person who was also in attendance informed Alan
that, utilizing kloudtrack®, home office personnel were
able to find all of the documentation they needed to
submit to the FINRA.
Highlighting this point Alan emphasized, “Since
kloudtrack® was implemented my sales productivity
has tripled over the same period of the previous year.”
This was in large part because of his ability to remain in
his office where his personal productivity is the greatest
by utilizing the remote access features of kloudtrack®.
“Normally, I would have had to travel the next morning
to our OSJ location – which is more than 70 miles
away – to begin the tedious tasks of researching and
assembling information to comply with the regulators’
requests. Keep in mind, these 1.5 hours of travel each
way would be billed to the OSJ and are unproductive
time for both me, as I am a producer, and the OSJ. Use
of kloudtrack® basically eliminates my need to travel
to the OSJ as I can do virtually all of my work remotely,”
added Pransky.
What could have been a hectic 24-hour period for Alan,
his office administrator and various additional Patriot
producer-reps ended up requiring absolutely no time to
resolve.
“Before kloudtrack®, each time there was a surveillance
request we would have to stop to research the matter
and/or contact the representative. Then, we would have
to copy the material and send it to the home office
examiner. This whole process could take half an hour or
more and could occur several times each month. One
of the best parts of the story is that by the very nature of
kloudtrack® being SaaS|Cloud we were able to do all
the work remotely,” continued Pransky.
Productivity ROI Already Included
Beyond the risk mitigation, compliance/audit
preparation and response, Patriot has also tallied
considerable savings from a productivity perspective
during the kloudtrack® deployment – more than
$1000 per month in additional hard-cost courier, delivery
and postage fees alone – through greater productivity
annapolis Office:
175 Admiral Cochrane Drive, Suite 300
Annapolis, MD 21401
240.499.3844 | 240.499.3831 fax
Kloudtrack Lincoln Case Study.indd 3
“The value-proposition of this type of capability cannot
be emphasized enough and quickly garnered the
attention of Patriot’s owners and the executive teams
at the broker-dealer home office. Essentially, in just one
review/audit instance the ability to efficiently organize
our data from the moment an account is generated,
combined with the ability to respond quicker and involve
fewer internal employees during such reviews and
audits, more than paid for the monthly kloudtrack®
technology costs,” added Pransky.
Start Small and Scale
Industry analysts such as Gartner, Forrester and
IDC agree that many businesses — particularly in the
SME or mid-market — should be taking a closer look at
their business processes and the new landscape of
SaaS and outsourced enterprise applications. The total
cost of ownership (TCO) is often very low and the return
on investment (ROI) is often realized in a very short
period of time. At a fundamental level, the benefits
of SaaS platforms address both the goals of senior
management and the best-practice needs of compliance
and IT departments.
Also, adoption of SaaS|Cloud applications can begin
small and scale infinitely so, go ahead pick a “pilot”
program, develop some tangible metrics for ROI success
and execute. You might be surprised how easy and
effective these technologies can be.
EMAIL:
[email protected]
WEB:
www.kloudtrack.com
2/8/12 9:21 PM