To be successful in our ever-changing world, family offices need to embrace new technology like never before. The question is, how can a family office technology leader incorporate change to meet family members’ needs. One aspect is by replacing manual processes and older legacy systems with new tech offerings, such as process automation, data and analytics, visualization capabilities, and AI (artificial intelligence).

Further, with the massive digital expansion, and as technology permeates the entirety of the family office, tech leadership must be part of strategic planning. Tech leaders must also be aware of the evolution of family offices into an e-services model, for the purpose of driving value and providing transparency. And family office leaders should identify which core services can be performed by internal staff, and where you can outsource.

Looking at operations, family offices are pursuing automation and robotics to find efficiencies. On the surface this may appear complex and challenging, but the reality is robotics are not intimidating even for a small family office and solve for daily processes that can be automated, thereby eliminating the human risk of mistakes.

Let’s look at how data analytics can deliver transparency and actionable insights. Data exploration is the heart and soul of analytics, and allows you to travel through large data sets at speed, and apply sophisticated trend analysis and correlations over time. In contrast, dashboards are more the world of business metrics comparing what happened over time.

Family office leaders must engage deeply in cybersecurity and realize that cyber criminals are organized just like a business. Here are some expert tips to evaluate your risk and protect your digital and financial footprint:

• Home and business network WIFI and router passwords must be changed regularly.
• Periodically review personal and professional profiles that are on the Internet.
• Check into “reputation monitoring,” which includes a complete audit through the dark web and the deep web.
• Protect your identity.
• Employ credit monitoring.
• Monitor your devices closely.

FOX offers a comprehensive “cheat sheet” that covers basic cybersecurity needs, as well as help reviewing your digital footprint.

Kent Lawson is the Director of Technology Integration Services for FOX and leads endeavors focused on technology among other important deliverables to members of FOX. Kent has spent over 25 years serving the wealth management community in a variety of roles. Areas of Expertise: Technology Integration Read More →