|
DST Systems, Inc.
- Data Processing -
Category Directory
333
West 11th Street
Kansas City, Missouri 64105
(816) 435-1000
www.dstsystems.com
Sales
$1.7
billion
Business Description
The
Company has several operating business units that offer sophisticated
information processing and software services and products. These business
units are reported as three operating Segments (Financial Services, Output
Solutions and Customer Management). In addition, investments in equity
securities and certain financial interests and the Company’s real estate
subsidiaries and affiliates have been aggregated into an Investments and
Other Segment. A summary of each of the Company’s Segments follows:
Financial Services
DST’s Financial Services Segment provides sophisticated information
processing and computer software services and products primarily to mutual
funds, investment managers, corporations, insurance companies, banks,
brokers and financial planners. DST’s proprietary software systems include
mutual fund shareowner and unit trust recordkeeping systems for U.S. and
international mutual fund companies; a defined-contribution participant
recordkeeping system for the U.S. retirement plan market; securities
transfer systems offered to corporations, corporate trustees and transfer
agents; investment management systems offered to U.S. and international
investment managers and fund accountants; a workflow management and customer
contact system offered to mutual funds, insurance companies, brokerage
firms, banks, cable television operators and health care providers; and
record-keeping systems to support “managed account” investment products. DST
also provides design, management and transaction processing services for
customized consumer equipment maintenance and debt protection programs.
The Segment distributes its services and products on a direct basis and
through subsidiaries and joint venture affiliates in the U.S., United
Kingdom (“U.K.”), Canada, Europe, Australia, South Africa and Asia-Pacific
and, to a lesser degree, distributes such services and products through
various strategic alliances.
Output Solutions
DST’s Output Solutions Segment provides single source, integrated print and
electronic communications solutions. In the U.S., the Company provides
customized and personalized bill and statement processing services,
electronic bill payment and presentment solutions and computer output
archival solutions.
The Segment also offers its services to the Canadian and U.K. markets. DST
Output Canada Inc. (“DST Output Canada”), formerly known as Xebec Imaging
Services, Inc., offers customer communications and document automation
solutions to the Canadian market. DST International Output Limited (“DST
International Output”) provides personalized paper and electronic
communications principally in the U.K.
The Segment distributes its products directly in connection with the
provision of certain Financial Services and Customer Management products and
in connection with other providers of data processing services.
Customer Management
DST’s Customer Management Segment provides customer management, billing and
marketing solutions to the video/broadband, direct broadcast satellite
(“DBS”), wire-line and Internet Protocol (“IP”) telephony, Internet and
utility markets. The Segment offers a comprehensive customer management and
billing solution by providing core customer care products that are
supplemented with the products and services offered from DST’s other
operating segments.
The Segment distributes its services and products on a direct basis, through
subsidiaries in North America, the U.K. and parts of Europe and with
international alliance partners in other regions of the world.
Investments and Other
The Investments and Other Segment holds investments in equity securities and
certain financial interests and the Company’s real estate subsidiaries and
affiliates. The Company holds investments in equity securities with a market
value of approximately $1.2 billion at December 31, 2003, including
approximately 12.8 million shares of State Street Corporation (“State
Street”) with a market value of $666 million and 8.6 million shares of
Computer Sciences Corporation (“CSC”) with a market value of $382 million.
Additionally, the Company owns and operates 2.7 million square feet of real
estate, mostly in the U.S. and U.K., which is held primarily for lease to
the Company’s other business segments.
U.S. Mutual Fund Shareowner Processing
Most of the Financial Services Segment’s clients who utilize the Company’s
proprietary mutual fund recordkeeping systems are “open-end” mutual fund
companies, which obtain funds for investment by making a continuous offering
of their shares. Purchases and sales (referred to as “redemptions”) of
open-end mutual fund shares are typically effected between shareowners and
the fund, rather than between shareowners. These transactions are based on
the net asset value of the mutual fund on the date of purchase or
redemption, which requires that the assets of the fund and the interests of
its shareowners be valued daily. Accordingly, timely and accurate accounting
and recordkeeping of shareowner and fund investment activity is critical.
Investor attraction to a wide array of mutual fund investment products with
increasingly specialized features has significantly increased the number of
mutual fund shareowner accounts, the volume of transactions and the
complexity of recordkeeping. In addition, new technologies have changed the
service requirements and distribution channels of the mutual fund market.
The Company has made significant investments in computer capacities and
systems to handle the increasing volume and complexity of transactions and
distribution channels, to maintain its leadership position and to improve
quality and productivity.
A majority of the shareowner accounts serviced by the Company are at mutual
fund organizations that have been clients of the Company for more than five
years.
Shareowner Accounting and Recordkeeping
The proprietary applications system for U.S. mutual fund recordkeeping and
accounting is TA2000, which performs shareowner related functions for mutual
funds, including processing purchases, redemptions, exchanges and transfers
of shares; maintaining shareowner identification and share ownership
records; reconciling cash and share activity; calculating and disbursing
commissions to brokers and other distributors; processing dividends;
creating and tabulating proxies; reporting sales; and providing information
for printing of shareowner transaction and statement data and year-end tax
statements. The system processes equity, fixed income and money market load,
no-load and multi-class funds. TA2000 also performs many specialized tasks,
such as asset allocation and wrap fee calculations. At December 31, 2003,
the Company provided shareowner accounting processing services for
approximately 87.9 million U.S. mutual fund shareowner accounts.
Mutual fund shareowner services are offered on a full, remote and shared
service basis. Selection by a client of the level of service is influenced
by a number of factors, including cost and level of desired control over
interaction with fund shareowners or distributors. “Full” service processing
includes all necessary administrative and clerical support to process and
maintain shareowner records, answer telephone inquiries from shareowners,
brokers and others, and handle the TA2000 processing functions described
above. In addition, full service clients may elect to have the Company
invest end of day available client bank balances into credit-quality money
market funds. “Remote” service processing is designed to enable mutual fund
companies acting as their own transfer agent, third party transfer agents
and brokers performing subaccounting functions to have their own
administrative and clerical staff access TA2000 at the Company’s data
processing facilities using the Company’s telecommunications network.
“Shared” service processing allows client personnel to handle telephone
inquiries while the Company’s or an affiliate’s personnel retain transaction
processing functions. This service is facilitated by the implementation of
Automated Work Distributor (“AWD”), which creates electronic images of
transactions and makes such images, together with the status of the related
transactions, available to the personnel handling the telephone calls.
The Company derives revenues from its mutual fund shareowner accounting
services through use of the Company’s proprietary software systems to
provide such services, clerical processing services and other related
products. Fees are generally charged based on a per account and number of
funds for system processing services and on a per account, number of fund
and transaction basis for clerical services. The Company’s policy is not to
license TA2000. The Company also derives revenues from investment earnings
related to cash balances maintained in corporate transfer agency bank
accounts.
Retirement and Savings Plan Accounting and Recordkeeping
Mutual funds are popular investment vehicles for individual and corporate
retirement and savings plans. TA2000 supports all types of Individual
Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) and Educational Savings Plans, which include
both Section 529 and Coverdell plans.
The Company’s TRAC component of TA2000 provides participant recordkeeping
and administration for defined contribution plans, including 401(k), 403(b),
457, money purchase and profit sharing plans that invest in mutual funds,
company stock, guaranteed investment contracts and other investment
products. TRAC is integrated with TA2000, which eliminates reconciliations
required when different systems are used for participant recordkeeping and
mutual fund shareowner accounting. The Company offers TRAC on a full-service
and remote basis. The Company regards the retirement plan market as a
significant growth opportunity for its services and products because: (i)
that market continues to experience significant expansion as more employers
shift away from defined benefit programs; (ii) mutual funds, because of
their features, are popular selections for investment by such plans; and
(iii) retirement plan participants normally elect to use multiple mutual
fund investment accounts. Revenues from these services are based generally
on the number of participants in the defined contribution plans, as well as
per account fees for related mutual fund accounts processed on TA2000.
At December 31, 2003, TA2000 serviced 23.7 million IRAs invested in mutual
funds, including 5.4 million Roth IRAs. TA2000 also supported the processing
of 4.1 million educational savings accounts, of which 3.5 million are
Section 529 plan accounts. In addition, TRAC provided recordkeeping for 3.5
million retirement plan participants with 6.1 million related TA2000 mutual
fund accounts at December 31, 2003.
TA2000 Subaccounting
TA2000 Subaccounting services are offered on a remote basis to
broker/dealers who perform shareowner accounting and recordkeeping for
mutual fund accounts that have been sold by the firm’s registered
representatives. The subaccounting platform, which is a feature of TA2000,
is designed to meet the complex reconciliation and system interfaces
required by broker/dealers who require this capability. Revenues are based
generally on a per account and number of funds basis.
Products Supporting Mutual Fund Distribution and Marketing
The Company has developed products to meet the changing service
requirements, distribution channels and increasing regulatory requirements
affecting the mutual fund market.
The Company is the largest processor of the mutual fund industry’s volume on
Fund/Serv and Networking, two systems developed for mutual fund distribution
by the National Securities Clearing Corporation, a subsidiary of The
Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. The Company has also developed the
Financial Access Network (“FAN”), the technological infrastructure that
facilitates emerging channels of mutual fund sales and distribution via the
Internet. Products and services utilizing FAN include (i) FAN Web, which
enables clients to offer their investors direct inquiry to account
information, financial transaction execution and literature fulfillment
through a set of customized Internet templates that link the client’s Web
site to TA2000, (ii) FAN Web Direct, which offers clients a secure, seamless
and efficient processing capability for electronic transactions from a
client’s own Web application directly into TA2000, (iii) FAN Investment
Tracking, which enables shareholders to download their mutual fund
transaction data through Quicken and Microsoft Money for Windows Online
Investment Center, (iv) FAN Mail, which provides financial advisors and
brokers with trade confirmations, account positions and other data via
public network access and (v) Vision, which enables broker/dealers and
financial advisors to view their clients’ mutual fund and variable annuity
positions, process transactions and establish new accounts.
Revenues from these services and products are based generally on the number
of transactions processed.
Boston Financial Data Services, Inc. (“BFDS”)
BFDS, a 50% owned joint venture with State Street, is an important
distribution channel for the Company’s services and products. BFDS combines
use of the Company’s proprietary applications and output solutions
capabilities with the marketing capabilities and custodial services of State
Street to provide full-service shareowner accounting and recordkeeping
services to approximately 128 U.S. mutual fund companies. BFDS also offers
remittance processing, class action administration services, teleservicing
(for its current mutual fund clients and typically billed as a separate fee)
and full-service support for defined contribution plans using the Company’s
TRAC system. BFDS is the Financial Services Segment’s largest customer,
accounting for approximately 8.9% of the Segment’s operating revenues in
2003.
Revenues are derived on a per account, number of fund and transaction basis.
BFDS also derives revenues from investment earnings related to cash balances
maintained in corporate transfer agency bank accounts.
International Mutual Fund / Unit Trust Shareowner Processing
The Company provides international shareholder processing through three
joint venture companies of the Company and State Street, which are as
follows:
International Financial Data Services, U.K. (“IFDS U.K.”)
IFDS U.K. offers full and remote service processing for Open Ended
Investment Companies (“OEIC”) and unit trusts and related products serving
4.6 million unitholder and OEIC accounts at December 31, 2003. It is the
largest third party provider of such services in the U. K. IFDS U.K. has
developed FAST, an OEIC and unit trust recordkeeping system.
IFDS U.K. derives revenues from its shareowner accounting services through
use of its proprietary software systems, clerical processing services and
other related products. Fees are generally charged on a per unitholder
account and per transaction basis. IFDS U.K.’s policy is not to license
FAST.
International Financial Data Services, Canada (“IFDS Canada”)
IFDS Canada has developed iFast, a proprietary mutual fund recordkeeping
system. IFDS Canada provides remote mutual fund shareowner processing in
Canada using iFast and licenses iFast to mutual fund companies in related
markets outside Canada. IFDS Canada provides full-service processing to the
Canadian mutual fund industry using iFAST and full-service processing for
U.S. offshore mutual funds using TA2000. IFDS Canada also has installed its
mutual fund system in Germany, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. IFDS Canada
also services approximately 3.5 million accounts under facility management
arrangements using the iFAST system. Revenues are derived from providing
remote mutual fund shareowner processing services, time and material fees
for client-specific enhancements and support to the remote processing,
facilities management, and to a lesser degree, from licensing its mutual
fund shareowner system to mutual fund companies.
International Financial Data Services, Luxembourg (“IFDS Luxembourg”)
IFDS Luxembourg provides mutual fund systems and services to the Luxembourg
and continental European market. Revenues are derived from shareowner
accounting services based generally on the number of accounts, number of
transactions and number of unit trusts processed.
Corporate Securities Processing
EquiServe, Inc. (“EquiServe”) is one of the nation’s largest corporate
shareholder service providers, maintaining and servicing the records of 22.3
million registered shareholder accounts for more than 1,300 publicly traded
companies and closed-end funds. EquiServe clients currently include 17 of
the 30 companies comprising the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 153 of the
companies in the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index.
Registered Ownership Accounting and Recordkeeping
EquiServe delivers a wide range of corporate shareholder service solutions,
acting as a company’s agent to transfer a shareholder’s stock, disburse and
reinvest dividends, mail and tabulate proxies, distribute annual reports and
provide merger and acquisition services.
EquiServe provides corporations full-service processing, which includes all
accounting and data processing support for transfer agent activities related
to registered ownership. Registered ownership occurs when the beneficial
owner of the security is registered on the books and records of the
corporation. When investors purchase stock through a broker, the investor
may specifically direct the broker to register the shares purchased directly
with the corporation. Registered owners receive all corporate
communications, dividends, annual reports and proxy material directly from
the corporation. Registered ownership comes in two forms: physical
certificates or book-entry shares.
EquiServe provides custom services for corporate actions (mergers,
acquisitions, stock splits, tender offers, odd-lots, etc.), initial public
offerings and demutualization transactions.
EquiServe derives revenues from its securities processing services through
use of the Company’s proprietary software systems, clerical processing
services and other related products. Fees for accounting services are
generally charged based on number of accounts, CUSIPs and transactions.
EquiServe also derives revenues from investment earnings related to cash
balances maintained in corporate transfer agency bank accounts.
Employee Plan Administration
EquiServe services more than 300 employee stock purchase and stock option
plans with over two million employee accounts. EquiServe provides a complete
range of employee stock option services, from full service administration of
employee stock option plans to remote support of companies who do their own
recordkeeping services. EquiServe has developed a proprietary employee stock
purchase plan system that tracks and reports disqualifying dispositions,
utilizes an automated enrollment system and has the ability to provide
multi-lingual printing, multi-lingual interactive voice response systems and
multi-currency disbursements to support internationally-based employee
participants.
In 2003, EquiServe expanded its employee plan administration business
internationally. It offers global employee stock option administration and
international employee stock purchase plans services.
Revenues from these services are based generally on the number of employee
accounts in the employee plans, the number of transactions processed and the
number of employee plan accounts maintained.
Investment Plan Administration
EquiServe’s investment plan administration services encompass all types of
investment plans, including direct stock purchase plans (“DSPPs”) and
traditional dividend reinvestment plans. DSPPs (also called open enrollment
plans) offer interested investors who are not current shareholders the
opportunity to purchase shares directly in a company without going through a
broker. EquiServe is a leading provider of investment plan administrative
services, with 5.8 million plan participants for 180 DSPP clients and more
than 400 dividend reinvestment plans.
Revenues from these services are based generally on the number of
transactions and the number of investment plan accounts maintained.
Fairway
DST is implementing a new securities transfer system called Fairway, which
is designed to meet the changing processing and regulatory requirements of
the corporate stock transfer industry. Currently, over 560 clients have been
converted to Fairway, representing over 2.2 million accounts or 9.6% of the
approximately 23 million accounts serviced by the Company. By the end of
2003, DST had delivered a substantially complete system for equity
securities, although significant customization will be required for specific
major clients to complete the conversion process. DST believes that the
implementation of Fairway along with other DST proprietary software, such as
AWD, will continue to provide EquiServe with technologically advanced
software in the securities transfer industry. It is the Company’s policy not
to license Fairway.
Investment Management Products
DST International Limited, a U.K. company, (“DST International”), provides
investment management and portfolio accounting software (primarily on a
license basis) and services to over 600 clients in 55 countries worldwide,
serviced by offices in the U.K., U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong,
Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Japan and South Africa. DST International
offers a wide range of products and services, both in the U.S. and
internationally, which used together form a complete integrated solution for
the investment management community.
HiPortfolio is designed for medium and large investment management firms
that are seeking a turnkey system for investment accounting that can meet
their global and international requirements with minimum customization.
HiPortfolio is a scalable, comprehensive front, middle and back office
solution with over 250 clients worldwide.
HiInvest is a front and middle office solution for institutional fund
managers which includes decision support, modeling, order management,
compliance monitoring, performance measurement, performance attribution and
client reporting.
HiWealth is a front office solution enabling private wealth managers to
manage their clients’ assets. In addition to the same attributes as HiInvest,
HiWealth includes integrated customer relationship management and full use
of the Company’s work management software (AWD).
HiNet is a rules-based transaction processing solution aimed at medium to
large investment management companies that has a high capacity,
retail-focused variant for online Internet trading and portfolio accounting
using state-of-the-art technology.
HiMessaging, designed to address the lack of an internationally agreed
directive on messaging, offers a flexible and scalable solution for
communicating securities transactions. HiMessaging complies with all current
messaging protocols and is fully adaptable for future demands.
HiReporting offers fund managers the opportunity to produce comprehensive
reports according to their clients’ individual needs. Various delivery
mechanisms may be employed, such as Web, fax, CD-ROM and hard copy and the
reports may include pictures, logos and graphs.
HiPerformance provides performance analysis for asset managers. The system
is scalable to support both institutional and private client fund managers.
HiTrust is a Web-based, multi-currency and multi-lingual solution for mutual
fund and unit trust processing. It has been developed for the specific needs
of the Far Eastern and Australasian markets.
HiService encompasses a range of services for the financial industry, most
of them available globally. These include project management, application
service provider, installation support and consulting.
HiRisk is a risk management solution designed for institutional investors
and investment managers. It produces a broad range of absolute and
benchmark-relative risk measures that can be calibrated to different
investment strategies.
The Company derives revenues from the above products and services, from
license fees, fees for customized installation and programming services and
annual maintenance fees.
In addition, DST International also supports its legacy Impart/Uptix and
Paladign investment accounting systems. DST International also distributes
and supports AWD outside North America under the name HiBPM.
Business Process Management (“BPM”) through AWD
AWD is designed to help companies improve operating efficiency and customer
satisfaction. AWD captures all customer interactions including mail,
telephone calls, Internet, e-mail, faxes, etc., at the point of contact,
prioritizes and assigns the work to the appropriate resource and tracks the
contact through completion. By enforcing standard business processes
independent of the origin of a request, AWD allows seamless delivery of
consistent service across all channels, resulting in improved customer
satisfaction. AWD also enables customers with multiple service centers to
seamlessly move work between locations, removing geography as a barrier to
productivity gains.
AWD’s automation components allow customers to remove associates from tasks
in which human interaction is not required, enabling increased productivity.
In addition, AWD’s application integration components allow customers to
seamlessly link business processes that cross multiple legacy systems. The
AWD product suite also includes imaging and content management, a business
intelligence subsystem, a contact center desktop, proactive call scripting,
intelligent character recognition, digitized voice processing and full
support for e-mail and Web-based customer service.
Initially introduced to enhance the Company’s mutual fund shareowner
recordkeeping system, AWD was designed to interface with a wide range of
high volume application processing systems. AWD supports open architecture
platforms running on Sun Solaris, Microsoft Windows or IBM servers utilizing
Windows and browser-based desktops. AWD’s application-centric architecture
allows customers to implement the solution quickly, providing the
opportunity for a rapid return on investment. The Company’s integration
toolkits and open product architecture allow AWD to easily interface with
customers’ existing application systems and enterprise integration
infrastructures. AWD is an enterprise scale application implemented in many
different industries including mutual funds, mortgage origination and
servicing, life insurance, healthcare providers and payers, property and
casualty insurance, banking, brokerage, and video/broadband. AWD customers
are located in over fifteen countries including the U.S., Canada, the U.K.,
continental Europe, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Mainland China,
Taiwan and Japan.
In addition to licensing the AWD product, DST provides hosting for the
application. Customers can access AWD at the AWD Data Center using the
Company’s telecommunications network. The AWD Data Center provides a fully
redundant disaster recovery option to the Company’s customers. The Company
also provides business process outsourcing services to their AWD customers.
The Company derives AWD revenues from multi-year service and usage
agreements based on the number of users accessing the software and fixed fee
license agreements that may include provisions for additional license
payments in the event the number of users increases. The Company also
derives AWD revenues from fees for implementation services, custom
programming, annual software maintenance, AWD Data Center operations and
business process outsourcing.
Consumer Risk Transfer Programs
lock\line, LLC (“lock\line”) is the largest provider of customized services
for wireless equipment replacement programs in the U.S., servicing over 13
million wireless consumers. lock\line also offers systems and services to
support customized equipment maintenance and debt protection programs within
the telecommunications and financial services industries. lock\line services
markets in the U.S. and its territories.
Wireless Equipment Replacement Programs
Most wireless telecommunications service providers make available to their
subscribers protection for their wireless communication devices in the event
that the equipment is lost, stolen, damaged or suffers a mechanical
breakdown beyond the manufacturer’s warranty period. The programs are
customizable for each wireless provider and are offered through selected
insurance companies. lock\line is an administrator of these programs,
providing enrollment, replacement authorization and financial reporting
utilizing the proprietarily developed and enhanced Wireless Insurance
Tracking System.
Equipment Maintenance Programs
These programs provide extended service protection to the customers of
service providers or retailers for mechanical breakdown within or beyond the
manufacturer’s warranty period. Users of the programs include local phone
service customers who protect home phones and caller ID units. lock\line
issues service contracts offered to the consumer with those obligations
insured by a Service Contract Reimbursement Policy provided by an insurance
company. lock\line is also an administrator of the programs, providing
enrollment, replacement authorization and financial reporting utilizing its
proprietary Warranty Tracking System.
Debt Protection Programs
These programs provide credit card and installment loan consumers protection
for their credit ratings in the event they suffer a Life Altering Event (“LAE”)
and cannot pay their monthly credit card/loan payment. Common LAE’s include
death, disability, unemployment, hospitalization and family leave. lock\line
is an administrator of these programs, providing enrollment, collateral
fulfillment, debt cancellation authorization and financial reporting
utilizing its proprietary Debt Cancellation Tracking System.
The Company’s revenues from Consumer Risk Transfer Programs are based on the
number of enrolled customers for the wireless equipment insurance programs
and equipment maintenance plans and based on the customer’s outstanding
balances for the debt protection programs. The Company receives gross
premiums from which it collects its administration fees and passes along the
insurance premium portion to an insurance carrier or to captive insurance
companies. The Company records revenue based on the administrative fee it
retains.
Wealth Management and Advisor Products
Managed Asset Platform (“MAP”)
MAP is a proprietary system designed to facilitate the distribution,
investment management, trading, reconciliation and reporting for managed
accounts. Although they can take different forms, managed accounts are
generally individual investment accounts offered by financial consultants
who provide advisory services. They are managed by independent money
managers using an asset-based fee structure. Managed accounts can be
individually profiled for risk, goals and preferences. They are managed for
tax efficiency and can be diversified among several types of investment
instruments including stocks, bonds and mutual funds.
MAP is an integrated product that utilizes AWD and HiInvest. MAP increases
automation and data flow between the plan sponsor, who distributes the
product, and the investment manager, who is responsible for managing the
account portfolio. MAP links the plan sponsor and investment manager through
the use of AWD. The HiInvest component completes the loop with its trading,
reporting, performance management and reconciliation functions. The open
design of MAP will allow it to be integrated with other DST proprietary
products and is enhanced to facilitate the distribution of other securities
by financial consultants and money managers.
Revenues for MAP are generally derived based on the number of accounts.
Open Platform for Advisors (“OpenPFA”)
OpenPFA is a global “open product” and service utility that meet the needs
of financial and investment advisors/firms (“Advisors”), investment
managers/firms (“Managers”) and their clients (“Investors”). OpenPFA
presents a vertically integrated platform that aggregates specific data,
offers full trading, reconciliation, reallocation and rebalancing services
for various investment products, provides tax reporting and combines all
asset information and account activity in complete summary reports that are
functionally efficient and investor-friendly.
Revenues for OpenPFA are based on asset balances invested and are calculated
at the account level.
Winchester Information Processing Services
Winchester Information Processing Services primarily supports the computing
needs of the Company’s Financial Services Segment and certain products of
the Output Solutions and Customer Management Segment with two data centers
in Kansas City, Missouri and a recovery data center in St. Louis, Missouri.
The Winchester Data Center (“Winchester”) is the Company’s primary central
computer operations and data processing facility. Winchester has a total of
163,000 square feet, of which 76,000 square feet is raised floor computer
room space. Winchester runs seven mainframe computers with a combined
processing capacity of more than 13,900 million instructions per second and
direct access storage devices with an aggregate storage capacity that
exceeds 84 trillion bytes. Winchester also contains more than 800 servers
supporting NT, UNIX and AS/400 small and midrange computing environments.
These servers are used to support DST’s products and processing for certain
of the Company’s affiliates. The physical facility is designed to withstand
tornado-force winds
The AWD Data Center supports the Company’s AWD Image processing services.
The facility has a total of 13,000 square feet. The computer room houses IBM
AS/400 computers and optical storage systems, which support more than 15,100
AWD Image users. AWD users include DST’s full-service mutual fund and
corporate securities operations as well as several of the Company’s remote
AWD customers and other financial services companies. The AWD Data Center
also houses over 300 servers supporting various Company products and
Winchester’s remote tape storage using IBM’s automated tape libraries. The
Company derives revenues from its AWD Data Center based upon data center
capacity utilized, which is significantly influenced by the volume of
transactions or the number of users.
Each of the Kansas City data centers is staffed 24-hours-a-day,
seven-days-a-week and have self-contained power plants with mechanical and
electrical systems designed to operate virtually without interruption in the
event of commercial power loss. The data centers utilize fully redundant
telecommunications networks serving the Company’s clients. The networks,
which serve hundreds of thousands of computer users, have redundant pathing
and software, which provides for automatic rerouting of data transmission in
the event of carrier circuit failure.
During 2003, the Company established its own Recovery Data Center. The
Recovery Data Center is essentially equivalent in size and design to the
Winchester Data Center. It houses the latest mainframe technology, including
three mainframe computers that have the capacity to run over 14,600 MIPS and
the capacity to store more than 113 trillion bytes of DASD. The Company’s
data communications network is linked to the Recovery Data Center to enable
client access to the center. The AS/400 processors at the AWD Data Center
and the AS/400 processors at Winchester provide contingency plan
capabilities for each other’s processing needs. The Company regularly tests
disaster recovery processes.
Argus Health Systems, Inc. (“Argus”)
Argus is a 50% owned joint venture of the Company and a privately held life
insurance holding company.
Argus provides claims processing, information services and administrative
support to help manage pharmacy benefit programs. These services include
pharmacy and member reimbursements, call center, pharmacy network
management, clinical information services, rebate contracting and rebate
processing. A primary focus for Argus is the overall improvement in the
health of its customer’s members in the most cost effective manner that can
be delivered in today’s marketplace.
Argus’ proprietary claims processing system, Integrated Pharmacy Network
System (“IPNS”), is an interactive, database managed processing system for
administration of prescription drug claims, pharmacy and member
reimbursement and drug utilization review. IPNS, which provides substantial
flexibility to accommodate varying provider requirements, allows
point-of-sale monitoring and control of pharmacy plan benefits with on-line
benefit authorization and can alert dispensing pharmacists to potential
medication problems arising from such factors as duplicate prescriptions,
incorrect dosage and drug interactions.
The Company provides data processing, telecommunications and output
solutions services to Argus and Argus operates IPNS at Winchester and the
AWD Data Center. Argus’ primary clients are providers of pharmacy benefit
plans including insurance companies, health maintenance organizations,
preferred provider organizations, other pharmacy benefit managers,
pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors.
Argus derives revenue from pharmacy claims processing services provided to
managed care organizations, pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical
manufacturers. Argus also derives revenue from the management of pharmacy
networks, call center services, pharmaceutical rebate contracting and
processing as well as clinical programs and management reporting for the
benefit of their customers.
Wall Street Access, LLC (“Wall Street Access”)
Wall Street Access is a provider of online brokerage services to individual
traders and professional money managers. The Company has a 20% interest in
Wall Street Access. EquiServe, MAP and OpenPFA conduct certain business
through Wall Street Access.
Wall Street Access derives revenue in several ways, including asset
management, trade commissions, sale of research subscriptions and investment
transactions.
Data Processing Companies in the Directory
Affiliated Computer Services
Bank of New York
BISYS
Ceridian
DST Systems
EquiServe
Fiserv
NCR
Metavante
SunGard Data Systems
WebMD
|
|
