WMS and In2itive provide secure access to the Fairs Manager Software suite to IFAs in the UK and abroad via a Web Portal. Since its launch two and a half years ago, IFAs have clocked up over 150,000 hours of secure, live, active use from their offices and homes.

The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from any type of Internet connection, eradicating the restrictions usually associated with office network based software applications. The main drive behind the initial project was the flexibility element, to free the IFA from the office and to lessen the burden of IT administration.

As well as two-tier user id and password protection, use of the software over the portal is already protected by the industry standard 128-bit SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption protocol, however with the increased demand from users and overseas advisers it was felt further options were necessary.

WMS and In2itive have introduced further security options to the system by adding 2-Factor Authentication to the Portal Login page.

This gives the IFA additional assurance, control and flexibility regarding who can access their portal and more importantly their applications and data. Special key fobs that generate synchronized single-use pass-codes are programmed and matched to the user's profile on the servers; these are distributed to end-users and can be switched in and out at any time to determine accessibility.

The user will then only be granted access to the application select screen by providing the correct pass-code (generated by the key fob), in addition to their user id and password.

Commenting on the additional security options, Jeff Lenton, Director of In2itive Business Group said: "Security of data is every computer users concern - even more so when remote users, whether in the UK or overseas are involved. The practical and cost benefits of Fairs Manager on the Web are proven and speak for themselves as demonstrated by the significant growth in the user base. Higher levels of data and access security provided by the new options add to the existing comfort and trust levels that we have established between us since we began our partnership two and a half years ago."

Gary Sawyer, Managing Director of WMS Financial Adviser Services said: "Since pioneering our Web based software, maintaining a very high degree of service and security has always been top priority. IFAs put their trust in us to run their back office software and data on our systems and 24/7 secure access is expected. Access to the portal and to any applications behind needs to be secure, the IFA needs to have the flexibility to chose who can access the system and when. Full and efficient control of these factors is paramount. The implementation of the 2-Factor Authentication options gives our IFA clients a simple, powerful and flexible additional security option and offers that little bit extra peace of mind when deploying access to their data. After all, an IFA client database is in essence the nucleus of their business and therefore needs top-level protection"

Sawyer continued: "WMS continues to apply focus to delivering technology that matters and will be used to make life easier for IFAs. The hosted version of IFA Manager has been a fantastic success and will be more so given time. As apprehension regarding Internet use decreases, I have no doubt that IFAs will continue to migrate from their server based applications and choose to outsource IT headaches by using an ASP service such as Fairs Manager On The Web from WMS.