Linedata Services, the Paris-based IT company that acquired the ICON and ICON Retail mutual fund processing platforms from Thomson, has unveiled a 3-year strategic plan to invest in the twin systems.
Linedata Services has committed itself to increased R&D investment, and expanded plans for Icon between 2004 and 2006. The investment begins with a schedule of developments over the next 15 months. Specifically, Linedata will focus on new functionality, and market data and system inter-operability using a “toolkit” approach. The three-year plan is designed to make sure that each new release of the product brings significant benefits to its customers.
“The news of Linedata Services’ investment in Icon and the content of the 3-year plan was well received by the Icon User Group,” says Julian Baines, Investment Servicing Manager at Royal London Asset Management and the Chairman of the Icon User Group. “It is good to see the owners of Icon take a pro-active approach to planning for the future, responding to its customers’ needs and increasing the possibilities of the selling of their product, which can only be good news for its current user base.”
The latest major version of Icon was released last year and included, among other new features, a Data Integration Platform to improve the flexibility of the system for market data acquisition and to provide for more intelligent exception handling. Two fifths of the Icon customer base are already live or in the process of testing this release, which Linedata Services attributes to its Early Support Platform (ESP).
“The ESP made the upgrade very easy for us at Liberata,” says Katrina Hamilton, Project Manager at Liberata Life, Pensions and Investments Ltd. “Two of the key areas that really made a difference were the project planning assistance beforehand and the ongoing additional support during our acceptance testing.”
Paul Roberts, Chief Operating Officer at Linedata Services, says Linedata Services’s proactive approach to developing and maintaining the Icon product, and working closely with its customer base, has proved to be very successful. “We look forward to continuing to demonstrate our commitment to Icon and our customers in the future,” he says.