As proof positive of Eagle president John Lehner’s prediction earlier this month, one of the vendor’s existing wealth management clients has taken the decision to move from an in-house installation to the ASP version of Eagle’s solution. Contango Capital Advisors, the wealth management arm of Zions Bancorporation, will therefore move from its current installation of Eagle’s data management and performance solutions managed in-house to Eagle Access.
Lehner spoke to Reference Data Review at the start of January and identified a trend in the data management sector towards the adoption of ASP or software as a service (SaaS) solutions. This deal is a perfect example of that trend, which is being driven by cost considerations and the decision by institutions to focus on core competencies and outsource those functions not considered to be such.
Contango selected Eagle in 2004 to help centralise and manage its data to improve its management reporting capabilities, says the vendor. In 2008, the firm analysed its internal systems in search of areas where costs could be reduced and elected to move its middle and back office applications to a hosted service.
As a result of the move, Eagle claims that Contango will benefit from a service that will manage its technology, including upgrades, systems support and ownership of hardware and databases. Lehner reckons that the hosted environment will eliminate the time and money spent on managing systems and current market conditions are driving firms to invest in these solutions. “Firms are looking for fiscally conservative options for managing their business. As a result, we’ve seen our Eagle Access business grow significantly over the last 12 months, and our pipeline is similarly strong,” he adds.
Brian Bichler, Contango’s chief investment officer, confirms that the firm decided to move to the ASP solution as a way to cut costs and achieve efficiencies. “We expect to see a 30% annual cost reduction by moving to Eagle Access and will likely realise a full return on our investment by the end of the second quarter in 2009,” he explains.
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