Michael Pusateri is CEO of Siepe, public cloud managed services and data analytics provider.

What were the key theme(s) for your business in 2020?

Siepe’s business goals in 2020 took a turn following the global pandemic-induced lockdown. As a result of the massive shift to remote work environments this year, the demand for nimble public cloud technology significantly increased across the asset management industry.

We’ve shifted our strategy in 2020 to help support clients working remotely and enabled self-service options for our users working in asynchronous environments to more effectively and efficiently maintain normal business operations and workflows. While these are challenging times, we are seeing firsthand the importance of a robust and secure cloud-based infrastructure.

While many of the structural changes were underway, the pandemic served as a catalyst for accelerating the buy-side’s move to hybrid and public infrastructure solutions. Most managers were not equipped to quickly and seamlessly effectuate this change. Many firms had to adjust their technology approach.

What are your expectations for 2021?

In 2021, we expect larger asset managers such as endowments and hedge funds to increase adoption of the public cloud. While enterprise firms have already invested time and money into their existing IT infrastructure, the transition toward public cloud and working with outsourced providers is inevitable. Working with on-premise systems may enable more control over a firm’s technology landscape, however, as the work environment continues to evolve, larger firms will likely face more pressure to make the best use of those technologies to move forward in a post-pandemic world.

We also expect accurate, timely and contextual data and analytics tools to play a greater role for investment managers in driving value and making more informed decisions. Fragmented operating models make it difficult to source truth and cause a lot of technical errors. This further emphasizes the importance of working with an experienced technology provider that can aggregate data, automate processes, and provide a single source of truth of that data. Having access to firm-wide data through a secure, central repository will also be significantly more important in 2021 as firms continue adapting to the remote work environment.

How will your company address some of the industry pain points in 2021?

Over the past year, asset managers were not only challenged with intensified scrutiny to provide more ad hoc and bespoke reporting, but also had to evolve their business continuity plans to address the changing work environment and disruptions caused by technological limitations of having employees dispersed in various locations. Firms fought to maintain operational efficiency and improve workflows with unreliable technology while also consolidating their different data sources quickly to provide a timely and accurate picture to clients.

In response to the industry’s growing need for remote work capabilities, risk reporting and compliance requirements, Siepe has enhanced its services and functionality. We’re empowering  critical access to data, implemented a number of risk management capabilities and integrated our solution with multiple risk management providers.

The asset management landscape is changing, but fund managers should not have to suffer the consequences of limited resources. The public cloud, advanced data management capabilities and more accurate reporting tools will enable fund managers to discover strategic and actionable insights within their existing data sources, ultimately scaling their businesses and driving competitive advantage.