If you are interested in working with us on a new product or service, or if you need help improving your existing products, please contact us by phone or email:

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Business Consulting

There are many times when firms need ad hoc expertise in areas that they have no need or desire to maintain full-time personnel. This gap can be quickly filled by SDC to provide:

• Operations Management
• Product Management
• Systems Roadmap
• Process Implementation

For asset managers, RIAs, and brokerage firms, we provide operational management capabilities that allow us to review the current systems, processes, and procedures of the firm. We then work with the team members to identify the necessary changes. In many cases, we become part of the team that implements the changes.

Having been responsible for the product planning and development at several software providers and consulting companies, we have the expertise to act as the Product Manager for your system. While this is typically an interim role, in some cases we will provide extended services for products that may not generate enough revenue to support a full-time Product Manager.

With years of experience balancing the needs and resources of small- to mid-size companies, we are unique in our ability to develop systems roadmaps that reflect the priorities of our clients. With no allegiance to any vendor, we are free to recommend and implement open-source or proprietary solutions on any platform.

Unfortunately, we often find that companies are struggling with the communication between technology and business sides of the house. Our combined technical and business experience allows us to identify the appropriate processes to improve the operations of the company. This may involve implementing an Agile / Scrum process and helping the various parties buy into a process that is in all of their best interests. For example, we have worked with companies to help educate the sales force on how to prioritize requests and ensure customer needs are met, while reducing the risk that developers end up on a death march every time there is a deliverable.

Startup Advisory

Having been a part of more than 10 startups, we understand the startup environment. We know that you need a sounding board for ideas and that you need advice on developing business models, identifying market segments, and prioritizing features. We've been there and we can help.

As one of the founders of LaunchMemphis, Spencer has spent a lot of time with individuals who have great ideas but not enough experience in execution. We have provided advisory services to a number of companies, including:

• System Prototyping
• Business Plan Authoring
• Financial Modeling
• Network Facilitation
• Software Development

Spencer Dillard Consulting provides innovative solutions to the financial services industry by focusing on the intersection of three areas: Financial Planning, Investment Management, and Technology. With experience in investment research, financial planning, financial product development, and systems development, we help financial institutions deliver the right solution to their sales force and become a critical extension to existing teams.

We have been the technologists behind the scenes of many of the largest providers of financial planning advice in the world, quietly helping to make retirement and retirement income management a reality for thousands of clients through their financial advisors. Whether you want to develop a strategy to capitalize on a new market or develop a solution to change the market, Spencer Dillard Consulting gets you there faster.

Application Development

SDC provides application development services, from system and calculation design to system testing. Of course, we also provide a completely outsourced solution covering the entire software development lifecycle. Our process focuses on understanding our clients' needs and ensuring that we provide the right solution.

Many of our projects start out with the assumption that there is a cost-effective solution available in the marketplace. However, we often find that once you consider the true costs of such a deployment, a custom solution begins to look more attractive. The two major sources for this are 1) training around gaps between what the system does and what you want your advisors to do and 2) integrating with various back-end systems. In many cases, we provide a detailed proposal for building a custom solution at no cost to our client so they can evaluate their options effectively and accurately.

Because of our experience, we have developed a process that naturally evolves as the project progresses. The following diagram illustrates this process at a high level.