Linedata Services, a leading provider of software and services to the global financial services marketplace, launched its Application Service Provider (ASP) model for its back-office fund management and administration solution, Icon, in 2002. Today it announced that this service will be extended to offer customers the full functional capability of Icon.
The benefits of an ASP service, such as a lower initial investment, rapid implementation times and reduced IT and system administration, have become more widely recognised over the past few years and has resulted in a huge uptake in this type of service.
Linedata Services has followed this trend with considerable interest and has been reviewing its service this year. It has now expanded its offering to allow organisations with more comprehensive requirements to enjoy the advantages of Icon ASP. This includes:
- Complete access to the full Icon functionality, including facilities such as Report Writer, Omgeo CTM, ODBC driver, and a wide range of packaged interfaces;
- Fully flexible configuration to meet specific business requirements.
Mark Bellingham, Head of Customer Services and Consultancy at Linedata Services, commented, "We spent some time reviewing our ASP service offering earlier this year as the market trend towards the outsourcing of non-core activities continues among our customers and prospects alike. Historically, larger organisations have been able to create their own economies of scale, but advances in technology and, in particular, increased confidence in remote working has led to them looking at full or partial outsourcing in order to achieve the maximum operational efficiency. From a customer perspective, the clear benefit of adopting partial rather than full outsourcing is that they retain complete control over their day to day operations."
He continued, "In the past, our solution offered access to the core functionality within Icon, which was suitable for smaller organisations. I believe that expanding our Icon ASP service will open it up to a far broader client-base as it now offers a comprehensive solution for all sizes of organisations, as well as those with more complex requirements."
Linedata Services has considerable experience in offering ASP solutions, which also extends to its LongView Trading and Chorus products. Linedata Services estimates that at least 65% of its global revenue is currently generated from its ASP recurring revenue model.