The main product of the financial services industry is not stocks, bonds, or mortgage policies—it's information. To survive and thrive, financial services firms not only need to unlock the potential of information stored within legacy systems but also within their own employee base. Faced with critical challenges in competition, consolidation, and other areas, becoming more profitable means giving workers the information they need to focus on work of the highest value. Collaboration technology empowers workers to rapidly gather and disseminate data, best practices, and much more—all from within your firm’s own walls.
If there is any magic in financial services, it certainly resides in the people who are at the heart of the company. But empowering employees means more than giving them more software and training. It means making it easier for them to bring their unique talents, experience, and judgment to bear in situations where they can make a difference.
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Collaborate with colleagues down the hall and around the world
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Access information using tools that are security-enhanced, widely known, and unobtrusive
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Close the gap between information and action
Microsoft is helping financial services firms equip employees with the right collaboration tools so they can do more. Microsoft collaboration solutions include out-of-the-box products and partner solutions that financial services firms can use to work together more effectively. These solutions can help you extend your most important investment—your people. For more product information, please visit the Microsoft collaboration Web site.
Case studies: Microsoft collaboration solutions in action
Learn how leading companies in the banking, capital market, and insurance industries are using Microsoft collaboration solutions to empower their employees and grow their businesses.
The Allstate Corporation 500 KB Microsoft Word file With millions of dollars at stake in a fast-paced environment, Allstate needs access to the most up-to-date information. That's why the company deployed the Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and reduced key information retrieval time from days to minutes.
"The main value we are getting from [Office SharePoint] Portal Server 2003 is quicker decision making. We can take advantage of investment situations before the rest of the market can. That has a very positive effect on our profitability." − Peter Schnettler, managing technology director, Allstate Investments, LLC
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Barclays Bank 610 KB Microsoft Word file Barclays Bank standardized its desktops by using Microsoft software and by adopting the Microsoft Office System. The resulting benefits are seamless integration with back-end enterprise servers. Bank staff can quickly respond to customer requests. And improved collaboration on data and documents can help to speed business decisions.
"We're absolutely certain…that from what we can see and measure today, the returns on investments will be in the hundreds of millions." − Kevin Lloyd, chief technology officer, Barclays Bank
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BMO Financial Group 670 KB Microsoft Word file BMO Financial Group deployed a new employee portal with Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Employees now see a simpler interface with easy navigation and single-click access to key Web-based information and applications that they need—all from the portal home page. Employee productivity is up by 23 percent.
"I was delighted that I could do something that made a difference for someone—and that I could actually see that difference. Knowing that our portal solution made employees' lives easier was a good feeling for all of us." − Richard Livesly, application portfolio manager, BMO Financial Group
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Citigroup 750 KB Microsoft Word file Using Microsoft Windows Server System integrated server software, Citigroup created a Web-based information delivery system for access by its investment bankers around the world. The information delivery framework is security-enhanced, highly configurable, and easy to administer and offers an unprecedented degree of agility and responsiveness for corporate clients.
"We created a portal that enabled individuals to flexibly create their own views while maintaining the rigors of a system that could be relied on to help ensure the integrity of the information." − Peter Estlin, CFO, Global Banking, Citigroup
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E*Trade Financial 530 KB Microsoft Word file Using Live Meeting, E*Trade Financial has increased staff productivity and collaboration, improved ease of use, and reduced travel. Most important, Live Meeting is saving E*Trade Financial 50 percent of what the company used to spend on previous solutions.
"Having our employees as productive as possible is absolutely the most important thing, whether it's [about] delivering software and projects or just how we're doing our work inside the company." − Greg Framke, executive vice president of technology, E*Trade Financial
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Kemper Auto and Home 955 KB Microsoft Word file In March 2005, a Kemper Auto and Home pilot group started to use the Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 note-taking program to gather, organize, and share reporting and project information. According to a study by Hollen, Inc., users estimate that productivity increased more than 20 percent in information-gathering and information-processing activities related to note taking after using OneNote.
"OneNote is a great tool for sharing company knowledge and lessons learned from past projects so that we can make improvements in the planning and execution of the next." − Ray Wortherly, senior project manager, Kemper Auto and Home
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NCMIC Group, Inc. 765 KB Microsoft Word file Using a Microsoft Office System solution greatly increased NCMIC Group's effectiveness in producing insurance policies. Microsoft Office products helped NCMIC Group reduce turnaround time by 30 percent, achieve payback on pilot investments after only 6 projects, and reach a cost savings of $7,500 per policy project.
"After examining all of the areas in which the Microsoft Office-based solution helped us improve our processes, we expect a 30-percent reduction in turnaround time for policy writing." − Eric Madcharo, chief information officer, NCMIC Group, Inc.
White paper: Microsoft collaboration solutions in depth
Learn how to relieve people of unproductive information-searching activities so they can focus their talents on actions that align to department objectives.
Free software trials: Microsoft collaboration solutions at your firm
Visit these Microsoft Web sites to get no-cost trials of popular Microsoft collaboration software, and to learn more.
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Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 enables enterprises to develop an intelligent portal that tightly connects users, teams, and knowledge. So people can take advantage of relevant information across business processes to help them work more efficiently.
Microsoft real-time collaboration (RTC) servers and services include Microsoft Office Live Meeting, Microsoft Office Live Communications Server, and Microsoft Office Communicator 2005. RTC software can tightly connect people and information in real time using Web (data) conferencing, instant messaging (IM), audio/video collaboration, and integrated presence.
Application templates are tailored to help address requirements for specific business processes for financial services firms. The application templates are out-of-the-box custom scenarios for the Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services platform. They also provide a starting point for building deeper Windows operating system solutions.
The Microsoft Office Online Smart Finance Web site provides demos, webcasts, and more to help finance leaders see Microsoft and partner solutions in action.
