Page 189 - How Cloud Computing Is Transforming Business and Why You Cant Afford to Be Left Behind

Y O UR CL OUD STRATEG Y: WHAT KIND O F COMPANY DO Y O U W ANT?

up into sophisticated combinations that make it easier for in-
dividual businesses to cope with a complex world.
Take, for example, Adam Sokolic, senior vice president of
operations at National Retirement Partners: Financial Advi-
sors. His San Juan Capistrano, California, firm provides its own
unique analysis of mutual funds to advisors of pension and re-

tirement fund managers; it’s an investment advisor to invest-
ment advisors, and as such it occupies a rarefied niche where
the stakes are high and competition is keen. National Retire-
ment has formed its own network of independent advisors,
who use additional National Retirement tools and services. Its
150 members are a growing force among retirement fund and
pension fund managers. Each time Sokolic can recruit an-

other advisor into the fold, it increases the use of his firm’s
analysis tools and his return on analysis services investment.
In an interview, Sokolic said that a key part of his business
strategy is to be both a consumer and a provider of cloud
services. He bases much of his business on the customer rela-
tionship management (CRM) and other software as a service
applications provided by Salesforce.com. These applications
run on large server clusters in Salesforce.com’s data center,
and are accessed over the Internet by their users. Members of

the National Retirement Partners network are supplied with
tools that customize the standard customer relationship man-
agement app. With National Retirement’s additions, advisors
can find prospects for the particular type of investment knowl-
edge or compliance knowledge that they represent.
When National Retirement recruits independent advisors
to its network, it shows them a custom Salesforce.com CRM

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