Technology Innovator Awards 2017

, Bluecoat Software is a software consultancy and IFA systems solution provider based in Covent Garden, London. We invitedMark Skelding, Managing Director, to tell us a bit more. Best Mortgage Software Provider 2017 - UK First of all, how does it feel to have been given your award? What do you believe are the reasons behind your success? It was a pleasant surprise. I would like to thank all of our clients who have given us invaluable feedback throughout the design and development phases of the project. It is an honour to be recognised by our peers and the industry in general. Please give us a brief overview of your company, your clients and the services you offer? Bluecoat Software provides the award-winning financial technology platform, FinPlan. It is a comprehensive practice management solution for financial advisers and mortgage brokers. FinPlan is an end-to- end, workflow-based solution, that enables firms to control all aspects of their work, whilst meeting the compliance obligations set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Based in central London, Bluecoat Software offers a UK- wide solution for the Financial Services industry. Our services are primarily deployed to industry professionals, many of whom are non-technical. Whilst users may be unaware of how a technology platform operates, or the specific challenges that need to be overcome; they demand a solution that is easy to use and that works efficiently and reliably. What is your firm’s overall mission and what steps do you take to achieve this? Our core objective is to enable industry professionals to work smarter and more effectively, by delivering them an easy-to- use, premium quality software application, with best-in-class technology and ongoing support. What differentiates your firm from your competitors and marks you out as the best possible option for your clients? FinPlan is designed to save time. It is easy to use and provides a secure environment to do business. It offers better ways of working, but does not impose cumbersome practices on its users. We don’t just provide software. We work with our clients to create a strategic partnership. Our bespoke implementation process ensures that our clients actually receive the benefits from a properly deployed application. We work hard to ensure that they understand the system and that it is configured so that they can work efficiently. Please give me a brief overview of the technology industry in your region currently. Are there any specific challenges or outside influences affecting it? System security is hugely important. There is a continuous ‘arms race’ between those seeking to illegally gain access to personal data - via the hacking of insecure websites - and those charged with protecting the data. We understand our responsibility, as a software platform supplier, to protect unauthorised access to data. We have implemented a range of procedures to continuously review and assess the current effectiveness of system security, including continual internal code reviews, regression testing and regular external penetration testing. Working within the fast- paced technology industry, what techniques do you employ to stay ahead of emerging developments? An area that we invest in heavily, is the provision and maintenance of the secure cloud-infrastructure and our data-hosting environment. Secure data and efficient access to the platform remain essential requirements for our current and future strategies. What is the internal culture in your firm? How do you ensure that all of your staff are equipped to provide the best possible service to your clients? We work in an industry that is fast-paced and always moving forward. We are able to provide a stimulating and challenging environment for our staff to work in, but our primary goal is to provide the very best level of service, backed up by an excellent product. We continue to expand our team to meet the needs of our rapidly growing client base. What does the future hold for your firm? Do you have any future plans or projects you would like to share with us? In all industries, the continual and rapid innovation within technology and communication offers significant opportunities to evolve existing business practices. There are many exciting projects currently under review and platform security will continue to be a hugely important part of our future development strategy. We see the further development of our existing portal technologies being significant and we continue to monitor industry-wide developments relating to wealth platforms and robo advice. With regards to the technology industry, what developments do you foresee and how will you adapt around these? I think we will see a movement towards full spectrum developers as the industry continues to push forward, it’s less about multilayer and more about multi-discipline. The goal of FinPlan has always been to facilitate an end-to-end process, where users can enter information once, automate processes and receive, record and analyse data from disparate sources to deliver an effective, efficient and compliant service proposition to clients. Email for demo: [email protected] Address: 90 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9RZ, UK Call for demo: 0845 226 0720 Website: bluecoatsoftware.com