On November 7, 2024, Patrick Bert, Sales and Marketing Director of NEOFI, was present at the ATEL Tech Day, the annual meeting of treasurers in Luxembourg, where he spoke with François Masquelier, President of ATEL, who asked him three questions about NEOFI's relevance in meeting market needs:
• Question 1: We observe that companies are looking for more appropriately sized solutions, not necessarily "best-in-class" or "heavyweight" systems, which are very expensive and oversized. How does NEOFI aim to make cash management simpler and more accessible for medium-sized businesses without significant investment?
Admittedly, companies rarely have the human and financial resources to afford a large, sophisticated TMS. And SaaS offers a compelling solution. However, despite its undeniable advantages, SaaS quickly reaches its limits because it imposes the same requirements on all its clients. But by definition, every client is different. So who needs to adapt?
The only answer is NEOFI! Indeed, starting from our very rich and very efficient technical base, you choose the functionality you are missing without deleting your existing one, you keep your current processes which you model in NEOFI, you build your solution module by module using the same base, you acquire the necessary autonomy to evolve the configuration according to the evolution of your organization and your company.
• Question 2: What trends have been observed in cash management solutions?
• Question 3: What are the major challenges that treasurers and your clients face?
The trends in treasury solutions remain consistently threefold: functional, technical, and ergonomic
1. The race for the most sophisticated additional functionality continues to appeal to both the most novelty-loving treasurers and the most expert consultants in their field;
2. The treasury management solution will always need to interface with other applications, tools, systems, and data sources. This interfacing is a rather technical concern, the intricacies of which the treasurer struggles to grasp and for which they need to consult their IT department. They must then adapt to processes and a pace different from their daily routine. The solution lies in the API… provided the other party accepts it!
Furthermore, FinTechs often promise attractive interfaces and new features. But do they really know how to manage and integrate with existing systems? NEOFI bridges the gap between old and new technologies, as illustrated in the image below:
3. The race for ergonomics appeals to those most sensitive to comfort, ease of use, and intuition. We are entering a rather subjective dimension.
New entrants often overlook connectors, prioritizing usability and functionality. Therefore, choosing a software vendor means weighing selection criteria in these three categories.
The challenges our clients face are fundamental:
they are frustrated by static PDF reports, they struggle to edit them in Excel, and they want fluid, interactive reports that can be customized without needing to contact the vendor.
By projecting too quickly into the future, we forget the past: many business applications still exist that don't understand XML or APIs. And since the major software vendors have chosen to abandon older formats and protocols, projects are inevitably slowed down while converters are found… (see comic strip above…)
NEOFI helps them to meet these challenges with peace of mind!
Patrick BERT, November 7, 2024 in Luxembourg.
