DB Precision Product Features
DB Precision was designed to meet the needs of user ranging from actuarial firms to pension plan sponsors. Before designing this system, we asked pension professionals
and actuaries to identify those features that would be most
important to have in a pension administration system. We then
built DB Precision around what we learned to be the most desired
features:
Accurate
Accuracy was identified by most as being the most important feature of an administration and calculation system. DB Precision is accurate and is thoroughly regression tested before any updates are released to customers.
The design of DB Precision is object-oriented with self-contained, modular blocks of programming. An object-oriented design minimizes regression risk where changing one piece of programming impacts another seemingly unrelated piece. Such risk is common among systems written using sequential programming languages such as APL, Cobol, and FORTRAN. With DB Precision, once a part of the system is proven to be accurate, it does not become inaccurate when enhancements to other sections of code are made.
Flexible
Flexibility is another important feature for users. A system should be flexible enough to handle almost any possible variation of plan design. However, it should not be so flexible and generic that setup of a pension plan is prohibitively costly and time consuming.
For systems that lack flexibility, plan setup tends to be a quick process. However, such systems often cannot handle certain non-standard features of pension plans. Plans that contain these features are either not set up on the system, or must wait for an enhancement to the system before being set up.
Systems that are too flexible allow users to touch any part of the calculation process. These systems allow for many more variations of plan design, but generally have a lengthy plan setup process. There is much more room for errors during plan setup, and therefore, plans must be extensively tested once setup has been completed. Maintenance and updates to plans require users who are very skilled in using the system.
We have tried to find a middle ground between these two extremes. Our goal was to create a system that handled most plan designs, while allowing for easy plan setup and maintenance.
Web Access to Participants
The ability to provide web access to plan participants is a requirement today. With the coming of PensionSoft's web portal, providing such access to participants is just a check box away. If your plan is loaded in DB Precision, a new option will allow participants access to their benefits through the web with no additional programming. By enabling this option for a plan sponsor, you can provide this sponsor with individual IDs and password which will allow participants to view information such as participant data and correspondence as well as request real-time benefit calculations.
Ease of Use
Within hours, an individual is ready to start using the system. There is no language to learn. Plans are set up by creating components and then combining these components using drag-and-drop operations as well as worksheet-like functions (see the screenshots section by clicking here).
Training is done in hours rather than days.
System Stability
System Stability is another important feature of any system. When a system "crashes" or "locks-up", users must wait for the problem to be fixed before being able to continue work. Instability oftentimes results from problems in the interaction between the client and server computers. If the server is flooded with too many requests at once, these multiple requests can overload the server and cause it to stop responding to requests.
DB Precision uses a "data-doorway". With this design, plan and participant data is moved between the client and server computers all at once. The server processes two requests, sending data to the client, and receiving data from the client. With DB Precision, it is the responsibility of the client computer to handle all other data activities and calculations, putting less strain on the server.
Processing Speed
Waiting an extended period of time for a system to process calculation requests can create problems, particularly for participant call centers and Internet sites that provide on-line benefit calculation information to participants. Processing speed can also be a problem when a user needs to calculate a large batch of benefits. Some systems can require days to process if the number of benefit calculations is large.
DB Precision has been written in C++ to maximize processing speed within an object-oriented environment. Other languages such as Java, and Visual Basic are interpretive and are not able to perform tasks as quickly as compiled languages such as C++. With interpretive languages, the computer must not only perform each task but must first interpret the task at execution. Compiled languages interpret commands when compiled, prior to execution, removing this additional step for the computer at runtime.
In addition, using the “data-door” design described earlier minimizes the number of server requests that must be made, further improving speed.
Reported Versus Derived Items
Even the most careful users can make mistakes. Some systems require the user to follow certain steps and procedures to calculate accurate benefits. If a single step is forgotten, mishandled, or done out of order, inaccurate benefits can result.
For example, some systems calculate items such as service start dates, or normal retirement dates when an employee is first loaded into the database. Even though such dates are derived from other items, they are stored in the database as fixed items. Future calculations of benefit then rely on such fixed items. As new information about an employee becomes available (the person’s date of birth was incorrectly reported for example), the user must remember to recalculate such derived items or risk calculating benefits incorrectly.
DB Precision internally distinguishes between items that are reported by the plan sponsor and items that should be derived. Items such as service and benefit eligibility dates are derived from other data elements by the system. This structure decreases reliance on a procedure that must be followed by a user, reducing the risk that benefits will be incorrectly determined. While DB Precision allows such dates to be reported, the plan setup process steers users away from this practice.
Flexible Data Imports and Exports
Some pension administration systems require that employee data be in a pre-specified layout prior to being imported into the system’s database.
PensionSoft recognizes that each plan sponsor reports data in its own way. DB Precision users can easily set up an unlimited number of layouts for importing employee data. Users can even specify multiple layouts within a single file to be imported. Data files can be loaded at any frequency from daily to annually.
For example, a sponsor might want to report salary data on a bi-weekly basis using one file layout and then report all other data (name, date of birth, hours worked, etc.) on a separate file annually. In addition, the file containing the non-salary data, might use one layout within the file to report name information, but then use another layout to report hours worked. DB Precision allows users to set up multiple layouts and import such files quickly and easily.
The same is true in reverse. Any reported or calculated items can be easily exported. Users can export data in any layout and may even export using multiple layouts for different rows within the same file.
Cost and Simplified Pricing
DB Precision costs less than most other products in the marketplace. PensionSoft has held costs throughout the development process to a minimum without sacrificing quality. As a result of these cost control measures, we can offer this product at a very competitive price.
If you are interested in learning more, contact us at (860) 680-1375 or email us at sales@pensionsoft.com
