Tech Tools: App Innovation

Written by Joel Bruckenstein, Financial Planning Magazine Friday, 27 April 2012

SunGard hasn't yet targeted the RIA space, and they haven't been very innovative. But that's about to change.

SunGard is one of the world's leading software and technology services companies - a little fact that would surprise those who only know SunGard from the independent RIA world. It has a big footprint in financial services, providing such tech services as disaster recovery, managed IT, information availability consulting and business continuity management software. With annual revenue of about $4.5 billion, SunGard is the largest privately held software and services company, and was ranked 434th last year on the Fortune 500.

So why hasn't SunGard been successful in the independent RIA space? Two reasons: They haven't targeted the RIA space and, in recent years, they have not been very innovative. But that's about to change. The company's soon-to-be-released WealthStation Mobile Meeting application is impressive. The application is currently marketed as a supplement to WealthStation, although it is capable of working with data from other systems. Even if you do not use WealthStation, SunGard's new offer is instructive because it differs from the way many competitors approach iPad apps. Some may find this approach superior. Read More..