A single standard tops Your Silver Bullet's goals

Your Silver Bullet is creating a single standard on which members can base future software projects. The organization, an alliance of independent software providers serving the financial advisory industry, has grown to 24 member companies from 11 in 14 months, with several more firms in the process of joining. The alliance was founded with the aim of providing advisers with the ability to select best-of-breed software from different vendors that is integrated and compatible without the need for programming. While several projects were completed, the efforts were costly. "When it comes to carrying out one-off integrations with other companies, it is expensive for both parties," said Dusty Huxford, chairman of Your Silver Bullet's standards committee. "So it just plain makes sense to come up with a single standard that everyone can develop to," he said. Other members agree, but worry that attaining the goal might not be possible. "It's a noble undertaking and one that would be good for all the companies involved," said Tony Leal, chief technology officer with PIE Technologies Inc. of Midlothian, Va., developer of MoneyGuidePro.

'PAST THE FLUFF'

"But it's a big, big undertaking and if you get past the fluff and get down to it, it is very complicated. I want one [standard], but it seems unrealistic," he said. To be sure, the diversity of software and data involved makes creating and embracing a standard difficult. "Because of the messiness of data in our environment, we're looking at an awfully large collection of potential data, and having a single unified standard for the whole problem is an awfully big task," said Mark Snodgrass, president of Money Tree Software of Corvallis, Ore. Despite the challenge, many in the organization think the effort is beginning to work. "The philosophical bent [we are taking] on any effort toward standards is that, one, [it is] very open — 'what gives us the best, immediate integration opportunities?' — and two, we don't want to re-invent the wheel," said Greg Friedman, Your Silver Bullet's founder. The strategy, therefore, is to determine what standards exist that could be adopted by the organization, said Mr. Friedman, president of CRM Software Inc. and president of the advisory firm Friedman & Associates in Novato, Calif. So far, many standards were evaluated, and none has been ruled out, said Mr. Huxford, who is also president and chief executive at Financial Computer Support Inc. of Oakland, Md., a provider of portfolio management software products. The list of potential candidates for a standard includes Open Financial Exchange specification, extensible business reporting language, and standards from the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development, an insurance industry consortium in Pearl River, N.Y. One aspect of the organization that software vendors and many advisers agreed the organization needed to improve is marketing. Despite a fair amount of media coverage in the past year, only a handful of advisers said they had heard of the organization; fewer were familiar with its mission. Marketing efforts, however, are under way, paid for from the $4,000 annual membership dues. For instance, Your Silver Bullet was among the more than a dozen exhibitors represented at the Financial Planning Association's Business Solutions 2008 Conference, held in March in Chicago. Visitors to the booth collected literature and learned about member companies and ongoing integration projects. Also, a representative of the organization, Ken Golding, a conference presenter and a vice president of CRM Software of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., was available to answer questions. "Being here is mutually beneficial for both the company and Your Silver Bullet," he said. Members are expected to take a objective, neutral approach in discussing the organization and its relationship with vendors. For instance, Mr. Golding answered questions about customer relationship management from an adviser. A lengthy, comprehensive discussion ensued in which he helped the adviser weigh the pros and cons of multiple packages — his own and others. Even so, the group has a long way to go before it is a household name among advisers. "I have very, very, very few [advisers] that come in and say they know that we [MoneyGuidePro] integrate with other software," Mr. Leal said. "We do a demo for them and they say, 'You mean you click that link and all those positions come in automatically?'" E-mail Davis D. Janowski at djanowski@investmentnews.com. "I want one [standard], but it seems unrealistic." Tony Leal Chief technology officer PIE Technologies