Adeptyx has a robust and experienced Charles River Consulting practice. Our consultants have worked with Charles River Development (CRD) software since the early 2000s. We have been involved in a number of Charles River Investment Management System (CRIMS) installs, upgrades, and tunings, underscoring our proficiency with v8, v9 and v8 to v9 upgrades. The first Adeptyx v9 project went live in September 2010 and since then we have performed or participated on several successful projects.

Charles River Investment Management System (IMS) software is complex. The software is highly configurable to deliver customized workflows with the goal of improving operational efficiency across the investment process.  However many firms fall short of this goal. Reasons for this shortfall vary, but typically fall into one of 3 categories:

1. The software was never installed correctly in the first place.
2. The software was implemented properly but not completely; the project was rushed, wish lists were pared back, and users were left with an unclear understanding of how to support it.
3. The initial software implementation was successful but the configuration has decayed over time, making a tolerable situation worse. A contributing factor is that companies often perform like-for-like upgrades and fail to take advantage of new application functionality. Workflow modifications to handle firm driven changes in assets being managed, compliance, and trading practices can also contribute to less effective usage over time.

What are some benefits and challenges of moving to Charles River IMS v9? Here are some key benefits, features and challenges likely to be encountered and evaluated during most upgrade projects.

1)     Significant performance improvements over earlier versions. On our projects we have seen improved performance around FIX, order imports, as well as core application performance due to architecture changes.

2)     In v9 the application can contain many blotter views. The views are managed through user profiles. One key project issue is how clients should approach blotter profiles.  Questions to be answered include: Should a template user be created? Does it make sense for application users to share profiles or have individual profiles? Do you allow end users to make updates or only have read-only access to their profiles?

3)     CRD has redesigned the privilege model for v9, allowing for more flexibility. However this flexibility also requires the implementation team to make decisions on how to best use the user administration and group administration windows to implement the preferred privilege model. Our recommended approach is to define / establish business groups, and assign privileges at the group level.

4)     Clients need to determine how best to take advantage of new functionality.  To do this, clients should review and eliminate custom processes implemented in prior versions such as custom stored procedures and custom triggers. Also, investigate if outside applications, spreadsheets and manual procedures can be replaced.

5)     Identify opportunities to make blotters and workflow rules event driven. The goal is to convert most queries to run real time, thus providing better information to the end users.

6)     Several compliance enhancements were introduced in v9 that should be examined and discussed to assess the usefulness and applicability to the current workflows. These include useful features like in-trade compliance, four-eyes test authorization, validate test, ‘as of’ compliance, and substantial shareholder disclosure rules.

7)     Charles River v9 was greatly enhanced over v8, and therefore a full review of all v8 workflows is needed. Obstacles will be encountered and end users will be required to change some of their workflows to gain efficiencies when moving to the latest version. To lessen the user impact, involve key end users early in the project.

8)     Futures spread-trading has been introduced into the v9.1 application series.

9)     Most clients run Charles River v9 on Windows 7. Therefore, your upgrade project might need to plan out how the Win7 machine rollout will occur inside their organization.

10)  Clients encounter bugs in every CRIMS release.  To reduce the impact of these bugs, plan and perform testing throughout the project on key user functionality and workflows. Depending on the severity and the availability of a workaround, there might be a need to push CRD to include certain fixes in the next dot release. Adeptyx consultants are knowledgeable about known application issues that could impact your workflows and can suggest potential workarounds.

The Adeptyx Advantage:

Adeptyx has extensive experience with CRIMS and we know what works. We know that every firm is different and that one approach doesn’t fit all. We take the time to really learn and understand your identity, your focus, your current direction, and then assist you. This is how we partner. Because of all these reasons, we help you maximize the value proposition of the your Charles River application. Here are some of the key benefits that Adeptyx will bring to the table in a v8 to v9 upgrade project.

1)     Insight into industry best practices. Our consultants have seen what works and what does not work at multiple clients. In addition, our consultants have Charles River IMS experience as well as significant industry experience performing non-CRIMS projects.

2)     We partner with clients to ensure our projects are successful and help create realistic project plans. In addition, we team with key project stakeholders like Portfolio Management, Trading, Compliance, Operations and IT. Our consultants are often embedded with end users to truly understand their pain points, application shortcomings and wish lists items. During our projects we often make v8 production tweaks to resolve existing issues. On all of our implementations, we focus on end user value and satisfaction.

3)     Adeptyx will ensure that you benefit from new features and application enhancements.

4)     We understand data and how poor or missing data will impact application functionality.

5)     Adeptyx consultants have their own CRIMS implementation toolkit. Our best practice toolkit covers everything from configurations and workflow design to change tracking, migration planning and queries that can speed up projects. Our consultants will ensure unbiased implementation guidance and upon project completion our consultants will leave you with documentation and configurations that will position you for future upgrades.

6)     We have also compiled a number of tips and tricks on CRIMS upgrades and usage that help us more quickly diagnose and solve existing problems.

Here are some key reasons why clients engage Adeptyx consultants on Charles River IMS projects instead of just using Charles River Development (CRD) consulting services resources.

• Adeptyx consultants are more experienced than typical CRD resources, with broader exposure to the investment industry. Adeptyx has seasoned senior professionals that are well versed in CRIMS, with deep install and upgrade experience in v8, v9 and v8 to v9 upgrades. We provide senior resources with broad CRIMS product knowledge, so you won’t be training our resources on your dime. Our consultants average 20 years of industry experience and have held senior positions in global investment firms, Big 4 consulting firms, software vendors and service providers.
• Our consultants are more versatile, giving you a more complete implementation. Adeptyx consultants are much more familiar with peripheral systems and thus better equipped to make sure to get CRIMS properly implemented. Our staff can bring the conversations beyond Charles River software by putting the focus on your business versus the tool. When you select Adeptyx resources to lead or participate on your projects, you will end up with a well-rounded overall operating strategy.
• Adeptyx consultants are well equipped to advise on better practices. Through our engagements we have developed keen insight into which practices and processes make sense and which do not.
• Our consultants advocate for you, making sure your requirements are fully achieved. We put vendor management front and center, helping clients gain more insight through unbiased dialogue. We have no constraints put on us by the vendor, and as a result our consultants engage you in open, independent and straightforward communication. Given our client base, we also have contacts at our other firms that can be leveraged in an open exchange of ideas. Our collaborative team approach benefits each client initiative.
• We leave clients better prepared to support Charles River in production. When we train your end-users, we make sure they understand how the tool behaves, why it behaves that way, and what happens if you choose a certain parameter. Adeptyx places heavy emphasis with your end-users on the testing, training and transition phases so that you can readily engage the tool in production. We share as much information as we have, leaving you with considerable documentation on the complexities and customizations. Our goal is to ensure our clients are self-sufficient after working with us.

Clients find that Adeptyx offers a clear alternative to vendor resources, and the repeat business from our clients demonstrates this. Our specialty is helping clients to attain improved operations, reduce risk, and strive for efficient process governance. That is why asset management firms turn to Adeptyx for end-to-end consulting with the goal of better leveraging their software solutions. We get you to a better spot, and leave you better prepared to support Charles River Investment Management System in the future. Our knowledge is your advantage. Let us help you grow.

Posted in OMS Implementations