Pareto Converts, Re-Launches Financial Advisor Platform on Microsoft Dynamics CRM

A 10-year-old Canadian financial consulting firm has converted its customized CRM software to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform and will be demonstrating it later this month at Convergence.

British Columbia-based Pareto Systems, whose SaaS software is tailored to the specific client needs of financial advisers, expects to officially launch the new Dynamics CRM-based Pareto Platform on May 1.

The software initially will be available as a service for $95 a month but an on-premise application also is planned, according to co-CEO David Miller, who noted that most of Pareto's business is with U.S. firms.

The Dynamics conversion is expected to help Pareto's customers, who will benefit from faster global response times on Microsoft servers. And when Dynamics CRM 5 goes to the cloud, Pareto's customers will, too, said Pareto CTO Cody Shiloff.

"The Microsoft network. That's the key," Shiloff said. "Microsoft has servers all over the world and the best Internet connections available. And when Dynamics CRM 5 comes out, Pareto users can simply migrate to the cloud. We'll reach more people with this."

But Pareto, a $5 million, private consultancy in western Canada, also should get a boost from the affiliation, broadening its profile and global reach by becoming part of the Microsoft family.

How it got started

Miller, who has been assisting financial advisers for 20 years, said Pareto decided to create its own software seven years ago after evaluating existing CRM products, including Dynamics, and realizing that none of them met the specialized needs of financial advisers.

"Most CRMs don't focus on the areas needed for advisers," Miller said. "You need to zero in on what advisers want to accomplish. We know what they want. And ...