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Leaders Discuss Teams, Budgets, Integration at e-Business Roundtable

by Eric, Deb, Anu

During the last very challenging six months, asset managers have cut costs and directed their focus to a short list of key priorities. During the kasina e-Business Leadership Summit in New York on April 23, we hosted e-Business leaders from firms of varying sizes and strategies to discuss challenges and opportunities for e-Business leaders in the current environment.

The overarching theme of the day was that e-Business is at a high risk, but also a high opportunity, crossroads in many firms. There is a high risk due to shrinking budgets and resources, combined with huge demands to produce and prove value creation. There is high opportunity because key wins can be highly visible and important for the organization.

The group heard from Steven Miyao, CEO of kasina, Jay Link, a financial services consultant and former "gatekeeper", and Bill Nicklin, CEO of Horsesmouth, an advisor community. These leaders gave keen insights into strategic challenges in the industry today and into dealing with both advisors and gatekeepers. Among these insights:

• Resource cuts and consolidations will leave the landscape radically changed and ripe for new ideas and ways to serve clients (Miyao)
• e-Business will help firms strategize and get the most impact for their dollar in this environment (Miyao)
• Sales and the web need to support each other and to tell an integrated story to advisors (Link)
• Messages to advisors and clients need to evolve to help them make sense of the world, rebuild their trust, and deal with a high level of emotionality (Nicklin)

The day also involved several best practice sharing sessions on structuring e-Business teams and budgeting. There were several common chords:

• e-Business teams are under pressure to prove influence and impact on measurable results, like sales and redemptions, and to make solutions scalable across the firm
• Great e-Business should help to integrate all the ways that a firm touches clients
• Challenges include focusing on the few, most impactful projects. With fewer resources at firms, people often look to the e-Business team for anything computer-related, which strains the team's ability to focus on the most important things
• Key roles and skill sets that teams need to acquire or develop include web writing, metrics gurus, e-mail marketing specialists, and multi-media experts

The day's conversations confirmed that that e-Business, done right, is not a standalone business at all; it is a vital, integrated set of capabilities that enables the entire organization to function smoothly and to achieve success. Ultimately, progressive e-Business leaders who foster this integration will better serve themselves, their teams, and their companies.