CleanData™ is what we're calling FinFolio's global error tracking system. Our bold claim is that CleanData™ eliminates data problems. Or more accurately, it identifies and highlights any problems in your data so they can be easily cleaned up by your operations team. We've made it virtually impossible for there to be bad data in your software without you knowing about it.
Data quality problems are like viruses--if you catch them immediately, they can be easily fixed. But the longer a virus stays in your system, the more damage it can do, just like not finding data errors until you print quarterly reports (months after they happened) makes it much harder to fix them. CleanData™ is our industry's equivalent of anti-virus software.
This is the tool we always wanted for Techfi's AdvisorMart service bureau. It was frustrating not having a quantifiable way to measure data quality. We knew there were issues with data but didn't have the tools to identify the problems, which meant we couldn't fix them. We couldn't monitor the production of individual employees and were constantly worried about losing certain key people on the ops team.
For newcomers, you can read about our development process for CleanData™ and how it works here:
Some examples of how quantifiable data quality measurement impacts FinFolio and ancillary systems:
Conversions - CleanData™ works in real-time no matter where the data comes from, including converting from your old portfolio management system. We've converted several systems so far and, in every case, found problems with their old data -- data the user thought was perfect.
Custodial Imports - Usually it takes months (if not years) to work out the kinks of a new custodial interface. But CleanData™ uncovers interface problems very quickly; we can build a new interface in a matter of weeks.
Outsourcing - Complaints about data quality are par for the course with portfolio management outsourcing. Some outsourcers are better than others, but they're all dealing with the same systemic problems. But now, if the outsourcer is using FinFolio, you have access to CleanData™ so you will know if there are data problems.
Trading - Having correct custodial balances is critical if you are trading from your portfolio management data. As rebalancing systems have grown more sophisticated and now incorporate tax-optimization techniques, matching system balances isn't enough. You need to know that all your open tax lots are correct--the balance checks run by most systems don't check your open lots.
Employee Turnover - When a firm becomes dependent on one or two operations people for their data quality, it creates a scary situation. What if the person quits, or goes on vacation? FinFolio gives you a framework for locking down the large block of institutional knowledge contained in your key operations people. FinFolio's error system pushes most of the institutional knowledge into the software, making it easy to rotate and train new employees.
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I know this CleanData™ stuff is pretty boring for the non-operations guys, and I'll do a few posts about our pretty graphs and reports to balance it out. ;-) But the nitty-gritty operations stuff is where Mike, Tom and I have spent most of our careers and it's hard to understate how important this could be. True innovation only comes along once every few years, and we think CleanData™ is the biggest leap forward for portfolio management in a long time.