Integrate

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Integrate's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Integrate is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.integrate.co.uk

11INTEGRATE |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

Graham Duncan, founder and

director

Turning data into information

Integrated Publishing Solutions, known in the market as

integrate, have been developing multi-channel production

systems for corporations across a range of industry sectors,

both in Europe and in North America, for over 20 years.

They have developed systems for the likes of Perkins Engines,

Pfizer, Linklaters and Massey Ferguson. Some time ago, they

turned their focus to the financial sector, and a decade-long

relationship with the BNY Mellon Group that has followed led

to the development of a suite of software products particularly

relevant to asset management.

Digital channels provide companies with unparalleled marketing opportunities but

in many industries, in particular financial services, there are stringent regulations

that apply when promoting products and services. integrate’s software ensures that

full compliance is maintained, at all times, with all regulatory requirements. Director

and founder Graham Duncan explains how this is achieved, and why integrate’s

software is the best choice for their clients.

Our software delivers on a simple premise: to consistently provide accurate and

legally compliant product information when, where and how it is needed. This is

fundamental for any industry providing data to its clients within complex regulatory

environments. This challenge is made all the more difficult by the multiplication of

channels from which clients might draw this aforementioned information.

Surprisingly, it is still normal practice to create such information separately for each

“when, where and how”: a web team creating the information for consumption

FACTS ABOUT

INTEGRATE

»Founder and director: Graham

Duncan

»Established in 1996

»Based in Leamington Spa,

Warwickshire

»Services: Development of

unique, compliant software

suites that streamline

and ensure compliance

of distributed product

information

»Each month, iPlus produces

studio-quality documents for

more than 200 funds, across

15 jurisdictions in 13languages

»www.integrate.co.uk

Integrate

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

12 | INTEGRATE

on a website; a document team

creating the information for traditional

documents and an app team creating

the information for a smartphone

app, and so on. This is a segregated

approach for each individual context of

the same information. When products

are sold globally, across an enormous

variety of jurisdictions, languages

and regulatory environments, such

a siloed approach is not only costly

and ineffectual but also entails

significantrisk.

Our product, iPlus, is a unique software

solution that allows corporations

to send complex information about

their products to customers through

digital platforms such as tablets and

smartphones. It continues to provide

the same data over more traditional

channels of paper and email.

Regardless of how customers want

information delivered, iPlus can provide

it quickly, accurately and in a cost-

effective manner.

A unique product for our

digital world

We have continued our heritage of

developing software to provide the

same information through different

communication channels; this is

something we have worked on from

a time before widespread use of the

internet through to the current social

media age. Our innovation has always

focused primarily on practical benefit.

Our core product suite allows companies

to maximise the market for their

products and services by fully exploiting

the advantages offered by the latest

digital channels. Uniquely, however, it

also allows companies to market these

same products and services through

traditional communication media,

such as email and print, while also

ensuring that the information provided

through each distribution channel is

both accurate and fully compliant with

tightening and complex regulations.

Companies that use integrate’s

solutions are reaping the benefits

of the latest technology to win new

customers and support existing ones.

Alongside this, they can retain

full commitment to established

communications methods that are still

important to many customers and, in

some industry sectors, still necessary

in order to comply with regulatory

requirements.

Companies wishing to utilise these

newest methods of communication

are forced to use different systems to

manage and distribute information

about products and services through

conventional, historic channels. This

leaves them exposed to three main

problems:

1. Increased operating costs to

support multiple systems.

2. Increased costs to ensure that

identical information is provided,

however and wherever it is provided.

One golden copy for

all points of client

engagement

Companies

that use

integrate

solutions are

reaping the

benefits of the

latest

technology to

win new

customers and

support

existing ones

“

13INTEGRATE |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

3. The risk of reputational damage

and, even worse, censure by

regulatory bodies if different

information is provided on the

same products and services through

different communication media.

Maximising market coverage

The segregation of the production and

distribution of product information for

each channel served is costly, inefficient

and risks inconsistencies between them.

Our integrated approach respectively

brings down costs, raises efficiency and

minimises risks. Our clients are able to

meet the challenge of marketing their

products and services through new,

high-tech communication channels

while maintaining their commitment to

more established media.

Furthermore, clients are able to ensure

that, where necessary, the same

information is communicated through

all of the channels they use for dialogue

with prospects and customers. They

are also able to tailor information for

different geographical markets; this

is achieved with regards to securing

use of the appropriate language, the

desire to provide country-specific

marketing messages and the need

to ensure compliance with country-

specific regulatory requirements. These

areas can all be addressed individually,

while central control is maintained over

everything that is produced.

Reducing the risk of

reputational damage

This use of streamlined digital channels

will expand and become used even

more prevalently in the near future.

As it does, the risk of incorrect or

inconsistent information about

products and services being distributed

will naturally increase. We will see

this across the wide range of these

different channels that are now used

by companies to communicate with

their customers, and with the markets

in which they operate.

Companies operating within highly

regulated industry areas, such as the

finance, pharmaceutical and legal

sectors, face reputational damage

and regulatory censure if they do

not provide correct and appropriate

information about these products and

services through alternative channels.

Our software minimises these risks

for asset management companies,

and can also be used similarly in other

areas of the financial services sector.

Everything our software solutions

provide for these firms also translates

appropriately for companies in other

industries that face similar challenges.

Our clients are

able to meet the

challenge of

marketing their

products and

services through

new, high-tech

communication

channels

“

Complex distribution

controlled

Reputational risk is never

a game to be played

www.integrate.co.uk

This article was sponsored by Integrate. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from The Rt Hon Theresa May MP.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

This foreword from the then Prime Minister appeared in the 2018/19 Parliamentary Review.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister