Despite posting a headline loss of approximately R6.6 million for the year ending 30 June 2012, SilverBridge is confident that new opportunities in the market will see the provider of software solutions to the financial services industry well positioned to retain and increase market share.
"Margins in the industry have come under pressure over the past few months and long sales cycles and difficult economic conditions have certainly not helped solution providers in this space," says Jaco Swanepoel, CEO of SilverBridge.
However, Swanepoel says the company has put in place measures to ensure its future financial sustainability. Contributing to the financial results is the completion of two major implementation projects, which have secured future annuity rental and support income for SilverBridge.
"Our rental and support segments have grown with the number of clients using our system, increasing over the past few months. Even though movement in the financial services industry is slow, we are starting to build momentum," he says.
If anything, the highly complex environment in which SilverBridge is doing business is keeping its operational strategy focused. This includes making implementations less complex and costly, adjusting software development, implementation and support processes to improve quality, and building a solution ecosystem with specialist and strategic partners.
The company has had several client successes over the past few months, including the Nedgroup Life project, which has been progressing well. SilverBridge is in the process of customising the installation of its Exergy solution to the specific needs of Nedgroup Life, which includes how it signs up new business, collects premiums, and pays claims for its range of life assurance products.
The first phase scope increase of the Absa implementation has also been completed. Absa is currently consolidating the work completed and SilverBridge expects to start planning the next phase later in the year.
"We are positioning ourselves better in the value chain and making sure that our clients understand where we fit. As a result, a partner has recently commenced work on a project by running with the delivery, implementation and eventually the support of our solution. We benefit from the rental income of the software and a satisfied customer," says Swanepoel.
The company is continuing to see financial service providers increasing their focus on improving relationships with their clients, driving internal efficiencies and differentiating their products.
"Management is part of our solution on the road forward. There is no predictability in the financial services market, but our ability to make implementations simpler and improve quality is important. We are engaged in several implementations and are actively securing new business," he concludes.
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SilverBridge
SilverBridge offers clients in the financial services industry reliable solutions that aim to simplify their operations by enabling and improving their business processes. It achieves this by implementing its system platforms and customising them to meet client needs. The valuable experience it has gained through its existing African footprint and the contributions made by strategic partnerships within its solution ecosystem, positions it well to take advantage of opportunities by making life insurance simpler.
Exergy is SilverBridge's flagship platform that enables core back-office policy administration in the life assurance industry. The broader Exergy solution package has specific applications, which can be customised to suit the needs of a long-term insurer. It uses solution design to address more than just customisation of existing products and contract information - it aims to enable its clients to drive their strategic business objectives efficiently. Its approach is to identify and define strategic customer business objectives, translate those to IT requirements, and to implement winning, long-term solutions.
Please visit www.silverbridge.co.za.
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