On July 1, 2017, Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) will go into effect at a majority of pension agencies across the country. COLAs protect members’ annuity from inflation erosion, but without a modern benefits administration solution, COLAs can erode the patience of the staff trying to administer them.

Less than 30 years ago, defined contribution (DC) retirement plans were a rather novel retirement savings vehicle. Now, DC plans are the most popular employer-sponsored retirement plan in the United States, according to the American Benefits Counsel.  Within the public sector, DC plans are playing an ever more increasing role in state and local retirement programs.

After working hard developing a tailored unemployment insurance solution for the Maryland and West Virginia Consortium project, a group of Sagitec employees are practicing the 3,000 year-old tradition of yoga once a week after work. A licensed yoga teacher is leading the 10-week yoga class, which takes place at the office building of Sagitec’s client, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

Part 3: Using web analytics data to identify insights and develop business strategy

When it comes to a web analytics strategy, organizations go through a natural progression. The first step in the process is to develop a method for capturing the data. As the first blog post in this series states, many organizations are finding Google Analytics (GA) to be a helpful and cost-effective web analytics service. Once the data is captured, the next step is to develop a data reporting strategy. The second blog post delves into how one can use GA’s basic reporting functionality to apprise business leaders. The next stage is to use the captured data and reports to identify insights and develop business strategy.

Last week, Sagitec employees from five different office locations throughout the U.S. all had one thing on their mind: give back to their local communities.  From Denver to Baltimore and points in between, Sagitec employees rolled up their sleeves and fed people in need.

Part 2: Understanding your audience through website analytics

Organizations are increasingly using the web to interact with their customers. Besides websites, web portals are becoming a ubiquitous component of organizations’ customer service strategy. These technologies allow customers to serve themselves and satisfy their need for instantaneous information. However, as self-service is replacing traditional customer service methods, organizations may be lacking critical information about their most precious asset.

The Public Retirement Information Systems Management (PRISM) conference is known for spurring thought-provoking discussions about how technology can improve public pension systems and this year was no exception. The educational sessions are the primary catalyst for these highly important discussions and this year’s conference in Nashville, Tennessee was chock-full of them. In an effort to move the conversation beyond the conference walls, I, Jordan Bartlett (JB) interviewed two Sagitec employees who attended PRISM to see what they learned.

 Part 1: Integrating Google Analytics with your websites and portals

In today's business world, metrics are paramount for they pave the way toward business process optimization. As a previous blog post stated, one way to obtain metrics is through a Business Process Management engine. To augment that data, organizations can also utilize Google Analytics (GA). By integrating GA with an organization's website and web portal, stakeholders are able to obtain useful data that can help them make impactful business decisions.

In today’s digital and highly automated business environment, there is a growing trend to expand operational performance benchmarking. This fixation on continuous process improvement was evident in a recent study by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS). The study, which compiled responses from 159 state, local and provincial government pension funds, found that 23 percent of pension funds have expanded operational performance benchmarking and 8 percent are considering it.

The tax season is upon us and this time of year happens to be a busy time for pension agencies. In addition to compiling and sending out annual 1099-Rs, pension organizations must also increase their level of member communication and engagement to ensure their membership is updated with important tax information. Members are anxious to know when their annual 1099-R will be mailed out, what exemptions they may qualify for, or if they should update their tax withholding amounts.