Maybe a bit of an unfair headline, but it’s fair to say that the heyday of (trust based) pensions administration systems has probably passed. Consolidation, poor outcomes, lack of investment, inflexible pricing and an industry resistant to change has meant that most pensions admin systems are starting to show their age.

In the age of tablets, smartphones, digital first ecommerce, clouds (does anybody reading this really know what that buzzword truly means?) a dusty old pensions admin system running on a dedicated piece of kit in a corner somewhere, last updated 5-10+ years ago looks like an antique. I mean who still has an iPhone 3G? (Apple last week marked the iPhone 4 as ‘vintage and obsolete’).

Even the underlying technology of some of these admin systems is probably complicated and expensive compared to what it needs to be.

Add to that, what business really wants to be forking out a king’s ransom biennially to ‘upgrade’ their kit…who last noticed that an app updated itself on your iPad? No? I’d like my business software to work like that too. Please?

OK, Apple and Google have massive reach and deep pockets, but I believe there’s plenty of ways to make running pensions admin software smoother, reduce cost, keep our users and members happier, safe and better serviced.

I believe the industry has to address this dusty, unloved elephant in the room.

ITM are looking at this seriously… shaking up the way pensions software is sold and delivered, revisiting how to give members the information they want, to cut cost and processing time, and deliver better service.

As seen on Jonathan Hawkins LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pensions-administrations-systemsyesterdays-tech-jonathan-hawkins?trk=prof-post

Jonathan Hawkins Client Development Manager