Every company is at a different stage on their way to becoming digital competitors. Both customers and employees have increased digital expectations that are waiting to be met. As technology and expectations continue to change, it is vital for companies to be able to respond.

We have entered the age of digitalization with no return in sight. Going digital is no longer a choice, it’s a necessity. In their recent presentation at the AACFB conference in Nashville, Tamarack’s Daniel Nelson and Leasepath’s Jeff Bilbrey dove into the realities of living in a digital finance economy.

For many Lessors with teams operating across multiple time zones, it is critical to maximize system availability. This requires a holistic study of all aspects of system operations, but we have found the daily and monthly execution of batch processing like Nightly Job Stream (NJS) to be “low hanging fruit” to monitor and improve performance.

Many commercial finance companies consider themselves “relationship businesses.” The leaders of these companies often see digital transformation as a potential threat to the foundational relationships of the business. Scott Nelson, Chief Digital Officer at Tamarack Technology, explains how digital can extend and strengthen relationships while providing scale to businesses when considered in the right context.

Have you come across a situation whereby you need to set a group of contracts and assets to a tax rate not supported by the Vertex “L” Series rate database? InfoLease does provide SUPs (Special Update Programs) to update tax codes and rates.

Historically, we experienced the concept of real-time data in analog systems like driving a car and heating or cooling a house. But digital has changed the value of real-time data because it makes that data portable, accessible and more usable. Equipment finance in the days of analog – paper contracts and accounting spreadsheets – had little use for real-time data. But in a digital world, the value of real-time data is increasing and we must learn to take full advantage.

“Put the customer first” is a business fundamental as old as the occupations of baker, brewer and candlestick maker. But our relationships with customers have changed dramatically since the time of town square markets. Thanks to exponential technologies like the Internet, social media, software-as-aservice and the Internet of Things (IoT), change is accelerating dramatically and the world of equipment finance is no different than other industries. We too are having to keep up with change and one could even say we have been behind given our anxiety around fintechs, cybercurrencies and new ecommerce competitors.

For some curiosity is natural and instinctive. But others must learn how to learn - just as children do in their early years when they are encouraged to ask questions. The complexity of modern day business and pressures to conform to operational tenets can diffuse the clarity that comes from questions and learning.

How do we prepare ourselves for a future that requires business digitalization? That is the question that Deborah Reuben, David Woodroffe, and Scott Nelson set out to answer during the latest ELFA Wednesday Webinar sponsored by the BCBS committee and moderated by FIS’s Joseph Franco.