Blog Facts I-2008

I think it is about time for another blog note, which I will post regularly now. They will be called "Blog Facts", and I will produce them a couple of times per year.

I also have sliced the blog description on top to make more room for the first post, especially for those with a smaller display size. Therefore, I have moved the contents in the log note (at the end of this post).

Quite a few people have asked me how much time I spend to keep this blog alive. Actually, and for many this has been surprising, it is just 15 minutes a day in average. The initial time to set up all the lists on the rights panel has been a couple of weeks with 2-3 hours daily.

Some people are irritated because of the bi-lingual nature of this blog. For all native anglo-saxons, all German posts are not understandable because they tend not to speak a second language. For Germans, they can use the translation widget on the right panel to translate the English posts (and it really works like a charme...) into German. For all others (who do speak neither English nor German), they may only use the translation widget to translate the English posts into their own language.

But why have I created a bi-lingual blog ? Well, since I am German and am writing about the German market and/or markets that have Germans working there (e.g. this is the case in Dublin) and/or German products are in use there or are relevant for the German market, I think there is a demand for a German blog. Then again, the vast majority of articles in the industry is written in English, so that when I quote an English article I will always write the post in English. Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Take care and enjoy reading!

Regards, Ron

------------------- contents from the former blog description:
However, the posts are either in English or German and not translated. To view the blog in any other language please use the translation widget placed on the right panel.

Are you missing a system in one of the categories on the right panel ? Do you wish to write articles here yourself ? Just let me know. And comments are welcome by anyone, anytime! You can call me at my cost (using my Jajah account) if you want to know more...

To read this blog on your mobile, use Mippin.

the cluetrain manifesto - blog justification ?

This manifesto is a thought-provoking set of 95 theses (also available in German) that I started reading for one reason, and that is related to this blog: because it backs up the need for this blog and it justifies its existance.

I am working for a consultancy and I am writing arcticles in this blog that contain my personal opinion, not my employers. However, some things I said on products from various companies are causing frictions (because, from their point of view, my opinion is not correct in various points).

Are my activities on this blog a potential thread and/or risk for my employer ?

Alpheus Blog

Alpheus hat ein Firmen-Blog eröffnet, dass zunächst intern startet, und wenn es die "Beta"-Phase verlässt, auch öffentlich zugänglich sein wird. Ich werde natürlich hier zu gegebener Zeit einen Eintrag schreiben.

New contributors

I have opened up this blog for several new contributors, most of them I know personally and for quite a long time. Welcome everybody! Hope to see some posts and comments from you soon!

Overview of Systems at Forex Blog

This is an interesting blog I just found that contains several posts on various product categories: Investment Portfolio Management Software, Financial Asset Management Software, and Investment Software. I have also added the blog feed here.

Link Lists for Investment Systems from Front- to Back-Office

I have compiled lists for fund accounting systems (see the surveys on the resepective topic, here from Barrington), transfer agency (see also the Barrington survey), compliance and order / portfolio management systems and added them as link lists on this blog (displayed on the right side). They will constantly be updated.

You may find other overviews on WallStreetAndTech (in English) and BankersPlus (in German, you might have to register first). Also interesting is the survey from Investment Advisor Association or the general surveys from Celent, or on specific issues on requirements for those systems at SourceMedia.

GCEY and KPMG also do surveys, but the the last publicly available survey on fund accounting systems I found is from 2004.

Technorati Blog Claim

I am herewith adding my blog to technorati. This is obviously a very fast way to get public attention - yes, I am very interested in comments!