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Making the rounds - FundSERV visits customers

Distributors to receive more timely and efficient payments

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Planning begins in earnest this summer for the v18 standards update, with four new working groups and a new process for documentation and approvals. In addition to all the usual committee meetings, over 60 customer volunteers will meet every second week to make sure the updates in v18 are the right ones for FundSERV customers. They'll have help from the Electronic Standards Group (ESG), Standards Steering Committee (SSC) sponsors, and FundSERV business analysts and systems experts.

A lot of planning went into the formation of these groups, the largest of which has over 30 members. The process began several months ago, when FundSERV and the ESG presented the SSC with a long list of possible standards enhancements for consideration. These were categorized into topics suitable for new working groups, maintenance items for the ESG to examine, and system updates that FundSERV will be managing on its own. Some of the more complex items have already been given a "concept document" treatment to start off the detailed analysis of costs, risks, and benefits.

Focus on concept

Bonita Kwok, business analyst, regularly attends both ESG and working group meetings. "For v18, we're adding a two-approval process," she says. Last year, working groups maintained work-in-progress documents that were posted on FundSERV's customer Web site. This time around, the working groups will be creating and updating detailed concept documents. "It's more efficient," says Kwok. "At the initial presentation of ideas, there isn't sufficient information available for a final decision. Now, the working groups will look at the impact and represent for another layer of approvals."

It sounds like a heavy workload, and it is. But Kwok is confident that the new process will work. "We're going to catch things we couldn't before, like compliance and development issues. This way, there's time to say to customers, 'How big of a build is this for you?'"

With the v18 Helpfile scheduled for draft publication in the fall of 2006, the working groups are going to be busy over the summer months. But a busy schedule is nothing new to Kwok, who prefers to keep her eyes on the prize: "Is it the best thing to do? That's the challenge."

Also new this version are e-mail alerts notifiying you that working group updates have been posted on FundSERV's Web site. If you are interested in receiving these alerts, please subscribe to the Working Group distribution list.

V18 working groups

Non-Financial Updates

Non-Financial Updates (systematic transactions)

Error Corrections

Nominal Units

ESG Maintenance

FundSERV Maintenance

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