Your parents did something a certain way. You asked why once.
“Because that’s how it’s done,” they said.
Twenty years later, you’re doing the same thing. You’re still not sure why.
Advisory firms collect habits like that, too. Someone created a workaround because of a limitation that existed at the time. That limitation may be long gone, and so is the person who created the workaround.
But the workaround? Still going strong.
Sometimes a technology problem stops looking like a problem simply because your advisors and staff have become experts at dealing with it. As you plan your firm’s IT budget for the year ahead, take another look at the technology frustrations your team has learned to live with.
1. Find the workarounds everyone has stopped questioning
Every firm has a process nobody really designed. It started as a temporary fix, stuck around and eventually became “that’s just how we do it here.”
Maybe someone re-keys the same client details into the CRM, the financial planning software and custodian paperwork because the systems were never connected. Or there’s a spreadsheet for checking advisory fees because the billing system doesn’t quite do what the team needs. Three people update it now. Nobody remembers who created it, but everyone knows their part.
For an RIA, these workarounds cost more than time. Every manual re-entry is a chance for an error in a client record or a fee calculation, and fee billing accuracy is a regular focus of SEC exams. Spreadsheets full of client names, account numbers and Social Security numbers also tend to get saved to desktops, emailed around and forgotten, which makes client NPI harder to protect and harder to account for under Reg S-P.
These workarounds are easy to miss because people get good at working around the obstacle. Ask your team one simple question: What technology problem have you learned to live with?
The answers may point to problems that deserve a place in next year’s IT plan.
2. Stop confusing “still works” with “works well”
A computer can turn on every morning and still be getting in the way.
Think about the advisor who starts their computer and goes to make coffee while it loads. They’ve done it so long that nobody considers it a technology problem anymore. It’s simply part of their morning.
That’s when it pays to look beyond whether something technically works. How much time are advisors and staff losing because of it? Is it slowing down client meetings, trading or account paperwork? Is it forcing people to find workarounds just to do their jobs? And is it still getting security updates, or has it quietly become a weak spot for client data?
You don’t need to replace something simply because it’s old. But “we can still use it” shouldn’t be the only reason you keep it.
3. Pay attention to problems you keep paying to fix
One repair probably isn’t a reason to replace something. But when the same technology needs attention again and again, it’s time to look at the bigger picture.
A repair may be inexpensive on its own, but look at what happens over six or 12 months. Add up the support costs, the time advisors and staff spend waiting, and the disruption each problem causes, including client meetings that start late or paperwork that slips. Keeping something running may no longer be the cheaper option.
That doesn’t automatically mean replacing it. There may be an underlying problem that can be properly resolved.
Before paying for another repair, look at what the problem has already cost your firm.
Familiar problems are easy to overlook
When a workaround becomes routine or a recurring problem becomes expected, it’s easy to stop seeing it as a problem at all.
That’s where an outside perspective can be useful.
By understanding how your advisors and staff use technology every day, CyberSecureRIA can identify where it creates unnecessary work, where recurring problems eat up time, where workarounds put client data at risk and where repeated fixes may cost more than they solve.
We won’t assume everything needs replacing. Sometimes the right answer is to keep what you have. The goal is to make sure you’re keeping it because it still works for your firm and your clients, not simply because everyone has gotten used to it.
Schedule a 45-minute discovery call and let’s take a closer look. Call us at 865-622-9304 or visit our website.
