SunGard rolled out the latest version of its Omni Web Solution on Tuesday.
It sparked my curiosity because so many advisers have been asking me for recommendations, advice or simply an idea of the landscape when it comes to software or software-as-a-service/web-based tools for working with defined contribution and defined benefit platforms.
Omni provides web-based access to defined contribution and defined benefit platform data for participants, plan sponsors, and customer representatives.
This latest release includes configuration “enhancements” for users which often ends up equating to “fairly routine or incremental update”.
It allows for additional customization and for better control over messaging, reporting, and processing capabilities to help plan sponsors differentiate their services on the DC web portals they support, maintain or service using the Omni suite.
I would love to hear from financial advisers about their experiences using Omni or similar systems. Omni is described by SunGard as being used by those helping “mid to large” providers of retirement plans.
“Administrators use it to manage the recordkeeping, trading and reconciliation, check writing and benefit disbursement processes of defined contribution, defined benefit and other contributory schemes worldwide” according to their prepared statement.
[From the prepared statement):
New features of Omni Web Solution include:
• Production-ready integration with personal finance applications and other retirement tools for education, investment advice, statements and rollover services that help offer a smoother and more engaging experience for plan participants
• Rules-based messaging, redirection capabilities and on-demand reporting that help provide participants with real-time answers to queries, increased transparency into their retirement plans, and plan-specific guidance
• Paperless transaction approvals and processing, website usage and statistical reporting for plan sponsors
• Plan administrator capabilities for configuration, plan set-up, and uploading custom web pages to add dynamic and static content to the site
And for the curious adviser wanting a little more context [also from the prepared statement]:
Carrie Yun, IT support analyst at WEA Trust Member Benefits, a user of SunGard's Omni Web Solution, said, “Omni Web Solution provides a robust, easy to use system that provides our 403(b) and IRA clients with secure web access. The new version works hand-in-hand with our Omni recordkeeping solution and offers a flexible user interface that meets the needs of our sponsors and participants. Because it is highly configurable, it gives us the ability to design reports, set up auto-enrollment options and trigger messaging. It also controls how users step through the investment process online, as well as upload additional custom web pages and further enhance the application.”
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