Workiro: Cloud-based document management reduces IT costs and meets stringent e-signature requirements

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For over 30 years, Informed Choice - an award-winning firm of independent Chartered Financial Planners - has been supporting its clients with solid and reliable financial advice. Based in Cranleigh, Surrey, the company was founded by Nick and Andy Bamford, whose mission was to offer local people trustworthy advice that they could be proud to put their name to. 

In 2019, driven by the desire to reduce a reliance on paper-based documents, and under the guidance of new MD Shelley McCarthy, the company implemented Virtual Cabinet’s document management platform. This allowed the team to digitise and access client files quickly and efficiently while remaining compliant with industry regulations. When the time came for the business to reassess its IT solutions, the team chose Workiro, a cloud-based variant of the Virtual Cabinet product, which offered additional e-signature functionality. 

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Server costs slashed by 50% 

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Julia Docker, Practice Manager at Informed Choice, explains: “When we implemented Virtual Cabinet, our main objective was to reduce the reliance on printing, paper and post. It served us well over the years, providing reliable document management - which was especially useful during the COVID period, when we were able to carry on business with reduced footfall to the office. However, it was the last of our server-based IT solutions. Everything else we use was cloud-based - keeping Virtual Cabinet had become a significant cost to the business in terms of server space and IT maintenance costs.” 

With the decision made to move to a cloud-based solution, the team agreed on a list of functionality that they needed - including document management, search capability, e-signatures and email capture - and test-drove a number of solutions. 

“We tried at least three different systems. One crashed Outlook, another didn’t quite have the functionality we needed in terms of e-signatures”, Julia explains. “Of the ones we tested, Workiro offered the best fit for the business, and the move to the cloud cut our server costs in half too.”

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E-signature functionality saves time and money

Since its initial launch as an add-on to Virtual Cabinet, Workiro has evolved into a complete cloud-based document and workflow management system. As well as unlimited cloud storage and search functionality for documents, Workiro offers document management, task management, Office 365 co-editing, automatic email capture, electronic signatures, instant messaging, access restrictions and PDF markup. Workiro brings together documents, discussions, decisions and agreements, providing a single source of business data. 

For Informed Choice, the e-signature functionality was a huge benefit. 

Julia continued: “As well as moving away from the costs associated with server-based IT, we also needed a solution that offered e-signature functionality. We work with a range of providers, including Transact, Fidelity, M&G, and Aviva, all of whom have specific criteria for e-signatures. We worked with Mike at Workiro to tweak the process and ensure that the format of our e-signatures met the needs of each of the providers. We used to have to print and post documentation, so it’s been a huge cost and time-saving from that perspective, as well as being better for the environment.”

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Client satisfaction  

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With over 30 years in business, it's no surprise that client satisfaction is central to the way the Informed Choice team works. This is evident locally - where the company supports charity events and community initiatives such as Cranleigh in Bloom - but also on a national scale, with MD Shelley often sharing her knowledge and expertise in newspapers and magazines. 

Julia continues, “It goes back to that early vision of offering financial advice that removes stress, brings people closer to their goals and offers financial security. Modernising our systems definitely supports us to deliver that mission - we can access information easily, any time and anywhere, whether we’re in the office, or working from home. Clients like the fact that they don’t need to remember login details, which simplifies the process for them, too.”

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Migration support and ongoing training 

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Workiro is a re-imagining of Virtual Cabinet in the cloud, with the teams behind both solutions working in close collaboration. This simplifies the migration process, with qualified engineers offering a full consultation, installation and document migration service, as well as onboarding and training from start to finish. Businesses are usually up and running within 21 days, ensuring downtime is kept to a minimum. 

Julia explains “I think any move to new software comes with a learning curve - adjusting to new processes always takes time. However, our migration manager, Mike, was great. We can still get in touch with the team for ongoing support. Mike is there, on hand, whenever we need him.” 

With over twenty years in the industry, a 140-strong team with extensive tech expertise, and a commitment to continuous innovation, Workiro is on a mission to deliver cutting-edge solutions with a human touch. This is evident in the development roadmap, which uses customer feedback and industry trends to develop new capabilities and functions - most recently the rollout of AI-powered search. 

“We have seen the product development pipeline and are looking forward to being able to make use of some of the new features, in particular the AI-powered improvements to search”, Julia explains.

“Everyone in the team uses the system daily, and it is saving us both time and money.”