By Bryan Richardson
The workflow innovator makes strides in the treasury workstation business.
There is finally something to get excited about in the tired world of treasury workstations. Years of industry consolidation have resulted in a small group of providers that bid in most RFPs. But one vendor is finally making inroads with a simple and intuitive response to fast-changing regulatory, accounting and risk management challenges facing treasurers today.
UK-based IT2 Treasury Solutions has actually been around in various forms for over 25 years. Since 2007, IT2 has been owned by Finnish venture capital firm CapMan. According to Tommy Valther Hansen, a CapMan partner at the time of the acquisition, “IT2 has clearly outperformed the market growth in the last few years.“ Indeed, on December 1, IT2 announced that it would provide its treasury management system to Costco, the $71 billion multinational retailer.
A joint study this year by consulting and research firms Treasury Strategies and IDC Financial Insights showed that 67 percent of the companies they studied have a renewed focus on daily treasury operations, while 55 percent have emphasized treasury technology in the past 12-24 months. According to Steve Bullock, IT2 senior vice president in North America, the company has grown 30 percent per year for the past three years, in part by taking advantage of these trends.
REDRAWING THE MAP
The most notable feature of IT2’s product is its interactive process maps, which are the basis of its simple and intuitive functionality (see image below). It comes pre-packaged with best-practice process map templates. Of course, most companies have process idiosyncrasies to be considered and incorporated in their controls. But they can be dealt with by anyone with appropriate system authorization simply by modifying the process map on the screen, which interactively re-configures in real time the actual process parameters within the system.
Much like Microsoft’s classic Visio data visualization software, boxes representing different functions such as payment verification or payment release can be added, deleted or modified with a mouse click. The change to a diagram also changes the operation of the system, which is captured in the process map so everyone who logs in will immediately see it in the process and be systematically required to follow that change. By contrast, most companies change their system functionality and then try to remember to update their documentation. With IT2, they have to change the documentation in order to change the functionality.
Corey Walsh, treasury director at BMC Software, a $1.9 billion global technology company in Houston, implemented the IT2 product about a year ago following a rigorous RFP process that weeded out the standard players. “We were looking for a TMS player with an all-in-one solution and were drawn to the functionality and flexibility of the product along with the customer focus.“ IT2 also lists all clients on its website so that future customers “can call any one of them as a reference,“ Mr. Walsh said, adding that the process maps, which are displayed in pictorial form, make the system “easy to use.“
IT2’s next update, version 7.0, comes out in December and includes new functions in response to recent economic and regulatory events:
- Credit Analysis: The new release will offer credit analysis capabilities utilizing key indicators such as equity prices and CDS spreads.
- Fair Value Accounting: The new release will include market valuation capabilities in accordance with FAS 157.
- SWIFT: With the growing trend of corporates using SWIFT to communicate with their banks, IT2 is now “SWIFT ready.“
As with any technology, IT2’s product has its shortcomings. BMC has found it sluggish when handling large transaction volumes, an issue the developer says will be improved with the new release. Nonetheless, BMC praises IT2’s customer support. “We have been very vocal about what is needed for them to make the next leap forward and they take our feedback to heart,“ Mr. Walsh said.