Tech Debt or Tech Stack. Bridging the technology gap in pensions administration.
April 2024
Tech Debt or Tech Stack. Are you experiencing the technology gap in pensions administration?
The annual PASA – Pensions Administration Standards Association CIC Conference in London is always a highly informative event. This year was no different.
Under the theme ‘The Time is Now’ it kicked off with a thought-provoking keynote from Chris Roberts Managing Director at Dalriada Trustees Limited who highlighted the issue of Tech Debt within the pensions sector.
Chris defined it as “the debt the industry has built up over decades of underinvesting in administration technology.”
Technology gaps is a subject close to Procentia’s heart.
What is Tech Debt?
The term was coined in 1992 to explain the need for businesses to have a long-term vision and continually invest in technology.
In a nutshell, retaining legacy software and platforms can lead to isolated functionality and slower processes.
A lack of investment in technology leaves us in operational and experiential debt and, as time passes, the gulf widens and the ‘repayment’ to get back in the black becomes more costly.
The pensions industry is suffering from Tech Debt because it relies too heavily on old administrative processes – paper and even micro-fiche, let alone old computer systems!
By failing to regularly invest in tech developments and now automation and self-service innovation, as the rest of the FinTech industry has, users and scheme members are paying the price of outdated software.
The debt is then exacerbated when there aren’t enough administrators to cope with the paper-based workload and wet signatures.
The solution? Software integration and a ‘Tech Stack’.
Essentially a Tech Stack refers to a suite of technology services used to build and run a single website, online platform or application.
They work in harmony to ensure seamless interaction between the ‘frontend’ (what the users experience and interact with) and the operating systems and data processing in the backend.
We’ve built our #IntelliPen pensions administration solution to do exactly this: Stack powerful modular systems into one platform to streamline processes and actions and improve operational efficiencies.
We’re always striving to develop innovative integrated solutions for our clients. For example, building our Intelli-ISP solution to provide direct connectivity to the Pensions Dashboard which will remove friction, bottlenecks and manual administrative intervention.
We’re not sitting still either. We’re continually working to maximise our own workflows and operations by investing in state-of-the art tech and AI solutions.
The time to invest in modern technology is now to reap long-term gains. Or get left behind and see the gap widen.
You can read Chris’ original post here: https://lnkd.in/espwM58R