SmartOffice's heritage in Canada dates back over 25 years to the days of the “captive” insurance sales forces. As a result, many advisors had been using Ebix's Client Data System (CDS) software for CRM and practice management for years without even knowing it, as most insurers provided the solution to their advisors as a custom version under a different name. CDS was in use by thousands of Canadian advisors to support their wealth management and insurance advisory practices.
With the shift to wealth management in Canada, advisors have developed valuable relationships within the IIROC, MFDA, insurance, and banking silos, creating more complex distribution relationships and a demand for more advanced software. To address this changing need, Ebix CRM introduced a Canadian version of its web-based SmartOffice solution in 2005. With the introduction of SmartOffice, Ebix offered Canadian advisors an alternative to less proven and often unviable software vendors who had left the business, leaving their many clients in search of a proven and stable solution for the long term.
In 2006, Ebix established a Canadian data centre in Mississauga to address PIPEDA data privacy concerns and added a second data centre in Vancouver in 2009. The company also incorporated a Canadian subsidiary in 2006 and acquired assets from London, Ontario-based CPU Management. That acquisition included CPU Management’s flagship CPU Tracker product, which was used by many Canadian life insurance advisors and producer groups. Ebix welcomed these new users to SmartOffice, providing them with the sustainable vendor viability and product evolution they needed to continue confidently building their practices.
SmartOffice continues to enhance its local Canadian presence and capabilities to deliver long-term business value to advisors, agencies, and wholesalers nationwide.
