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.

It’s estimated that American businesses lose $31.5 billion each year simply because information is not shared effectively. This staggering loss of revenue is the result of employees and customers not having information to make the best decisions; wasted time in trying to find information; wasted time and effort in reinventing something that’s already been created; and simply being misinformed. 

At its very essence, knowledge and learning management is simple. It is about giving internal and external stakeholders the information and resources that they need to be successful in their relationship with the organization that they work for or buy from. But, knowledge and learning management is much more complex than it actually sounds.

Practitioners have the mentality that if they develop content that stakeholders need, success will come organically. It’s the whole “if you build it, they will come” mantra. But, the fact is that a lot of organizations have developed great knowledge and learning opportunities that actually fill a real-world need (i.e., developed a good solution to a confirmed problem) without much impact. And, here are 7 deadly reasons why.

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.

Let’s stop beating our heads against a brick wall: 4 fundamental disconnects with outmoded contract terms and conditions

In the last decade, state and local agencies changed the way they implement large software modernization projects; however, the same is not true for the contracts that govern these projects. For this article, we discuss four categories of terms and conditions that are outdated and don’t reflect the evolution of software products or the product implementation approaches required for today’s modernization projects.  Consequently, vendors, procurement professionals, lawyers, and client leadership spend significant time, money and emotional capital trying to solve the proverbial “fit a square peg in a round hole” conundrum during negotiations.

Technology has changed the face of the world. Especially with the advances made during the last decade. However, if you look at new homes in the U.S., you will realize some outdated technology is still deeply entrenched.  Take, for example, telephone jacks; these still come as a default option provided by homebuilders. But how many of us use these telephone jacks? Technologies like VOIP and smartphones have taken over with aggressive pricing, marketing strategies, ease of use, and business value that cannot be overlooked.

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.