Schwab announces availability of key technology platform components for RIAs

Schwab officially announced availability of a few technology-related things today. Specifically Schwab has launched its two platforms that…

Schwab officially announced availability of a few technology-related things today.

Specifically Schwab has launched its two platforms that make up the Schwab Intelligent Integration initiative: Schwab OpenView Integrated Office and Schwab OpenView Gateway for Salesforce and its first round of integrations for the Junxure flavor of OpenView Gateway.

(The third flavor, that built around Microsoft Dynamics CRM is limited to a partnership Schwab announced at Impact with Salentica and I gather still remains under construction but I digress).

Repeated often enough the following will become old hat to advisers: Schwab OpenView Integrated Office is provided by Schwab Performance Technologies, and is a turnkey solution that bundles together Salesforce CRM customized for RIAs, real-time custody data from Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (Schwab), and outsourced portfolio management for assets custodied both with Schwab and elsewhere.

Schwab OpenView Gateway on the other hand is provided by Schwab Intelligent Technologies, “and is designed to be a flexible, open-architecture technology platform that enables data integration between Schwab systems and those of participating technology providers.”

I believe the timing of all this had to do with being able to demo these early iterations at this year’s Technology Tools for Today (T3) conference. They were not ready in time for Impact.

T3 started in Dallas today (yours truly is in attendance — sort of — I’ve been stuck writing and interviewing in my hotel room all afternoon).

Anyway, I mentioned in my Tech Update column last week that the Junxure integrations were coming and I am anxious to get some feedback from advisers who will get to see demonstrations of the Junxure 9 flavor of Schwab’s OpenView Gateway platform here at the conference (as well as the other iterations).

Schwab put out two separate prepared statements this morning, one of them on Junxure: “We are delighted to bring the benefits of high quality integration to the hundreds of clients that Junxure and Schwab have in common,” said Neesha Hathi, vice president of technology solutions for Schwab Advisor Services.

“This integration is an important step towards delivering on the promise of Schwab Intelligent Integration and is a significant milestone in our efforts to supercharge an adviser’s CRM in order to enhance client service and increase firm efficiency.”

The integration between Junxure and SchwabOpenView Gateway will now allow advisers to access real-time balance information, recent alerts and account activity, and other important account information all within their CRM. Additional capabilities will be included in future releases (so you can in essence view these features as version 1.0 of the integration between Schwab’s back office and Junxure).

These integrations are included in the new Junxure 9.2 upgrade (meaning those advisers that are already independently using the application). Advisers who custody with Schwab and are interested in Junxure 9 are eligible for discounted pricing from Junxure. Schwab OpenView Gateway is available at no additional cost to advisers who custody with Schwab.

Five new Junxure workflows are available in the Schwab OpenView Workflow Library. These relate to common front office tasks, including business development, referrals, initial contacts, and discovery meetings,

SALESFORCE AT the HEART of TWO

The second prepared statement was all about the Salesforce-oriented part of the equation(s). To refresh, that includes the turnkey Integrated Office offering and one flavor of the OpenView Gateway offering.

(I’m running out of steam so I’m going to quote from the release, getting only three hours of sleep will do that to you.)

“Advisors who want to use Salesforce can now benefit from Schwab Intelligent Integration in a number of ways, whether by accessing workflows or choosing one of the two integrated platforms,” said Hathi.

As for pricing, I’m going to leave it just the way they said it in their statement for now:

“Standard pricing for Schwab OpenView Integrated Office starts at $10,000 for two users. Schwab OpenView Gateway for Salesforce is available at no additional cost for advisers who work with Schwab Advisor Services and Salesforce CRM. Interested advisors can download the Schwab OpenView Gateway for Salesforce app via the salesforce.com AppExchange.”

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