NEWS ROOM

Pillar Administration Selects Thunderhead NOW Platform to Modernize Customer Communications

Australian funds management company to streamline letter generation processes, increasing productivity and reducing costs

Sydney, Australia - 18 February, 2009

Thunderhead, recognized innovators in multi-channel document composition, today announced that Pillar Administration has selected its standards-based, enterprise communications platform to improve the organization's efficiency and reduce production costs, while supporting future growth. According to Pillar, Thunderhead's scalable and user-friendly platform will enable the financial services provider to automate historically manual processes while improving customer service.

Based in Coniston, Australia, Pillar is the country's third largest provider of superannuation administration services, offering funds management, retirement planning and wealth management. Pillar selected the Thunderhead NOW platform in part due to the flexibility of its standards-based open architecture. This enables rapid integration with Pillar's existing TIBCO Business Process Management (BPM) software to achieve straight-through processing of customer correspondence.

Pillar manages accounts for more than 1.8 million members across 10 different funds and struggled to find a proven document output solution that could grow with the business as new funds were acquired. The company formerly relied on multiple solutions that required a high level of IT intervention. In contrast, Thunderhead NOW will enable Pillar's business users to manage shared content and business rules, reducing IT costs.

In addition, Thunderhead's unique XML design will enable Pillar to simplify template management, using white labeling to tailor its communications across the 10 different fund brands, while providing centralized control for compliance. Pillar will also reduce print and postage costs by moving toward electronic distribution of its communications.

“Working in the very deadline-driven environment of the financial services industry, we have a strong commitment to leveraging the latest technology to improve services for our customers,” said Grant Sandstrom, COO at Pillar Administration. “Thunderhead NOW allows us to not only improve efficiency, but to also increase the scale and scope of our communications.”

“Even during this challenging time in the financial services industry, we are excited to be working with so many companies like Pillar to help them drive greater revenue and efficiencies, so they can continue to provide excellent service,” said Glen Manchester, CEO of Thunderhead. “We look forward to working with Pillar Administration to modernize their infrastructure, while helping them get even more return from their existing systems and processes.”