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html Administering employee equity plans can be a tricky business. Keeping up with co mplex and ever-changing compliance requirements while managing efficient process es with limited resources can be an overwhelming responsibility for anyone. And determining the resources you need to administer your employee equity plan can b e confusing as well, given the wealth of options that exist. Deciding how much of your stock plan administration to outsource is a major unde rtaking. Some companies like their staff to manage everything in-house using rec ordkeeping software and a broker partner. Others prefer to fully outsource the a dministrative tasks to a third party who provides the recordkeeping system, hand les the trading and offers knowledgeable stock plan experts to manage the progra m. The most suitable method for you depends on a number of factors there's no righ t or wrong answer. This white paper will guide you through a few points to consi der when making this assessment. STEP 1 ASSESS YOUR TECHNOLOGY, AND THEIRS Because the factors in the decision are largely interdependent, determining what degree of outsourcing is right for you will not be a linear process. But a good place to start your assessment is with technology, which provides the foundatio n for a successful administration infrastructure. A stock plan recordkeeping sys tem is essential for tracking various plan terms, participant activities, demogr aphic information (e.g., ID numbers, addresses and hire dates), grants and award s, and other related data. The system also houses information about transactions , such as option exercises, restricted stock releases and acquisitions from shar e purchase programs. Reports from the system are necessary for accurate financia l reporting and accounting, and the company can also use the platform to track s hare-pool balances and behavioral trends. You should address the following major questions when deciding on stock plan sof tware: Does the system have the functionality required to support your equity plans? Most available programs will support standard equity vehicles, transactions and reports. If your plan has unique terms, such as market-based performance vesting , or if you want the flexibility to generate fully customized real-time reports, you might need a more specialized application. If you can't find a system to ha ndle these requirements, you'll need to look for a gap solution or build a manua l workaround. How does the software interact with other systems involved in the workflow? If y ou want to connect the stock plan software to your HR system, the broker's tradi ng platform, a participant web portal or your payroll provider, think about what data needs to be exchanged and how this will be accomplished. Integrating multi ple technology platforms enables data integrity and efficient data movement whil e minimizing risk associated with human error. Do you want to be responsible for maintaining the system? If you like having ful l control of the database and don't mind handling all the data entry, storing th e system at your site may be best. But if you want to avoid licensing issues and software upgrades and simply want to run reports from the system, a third-party outsourcer may be optimal. How much time will the proposed technology save you? Look at how the system can automate tasks that you would otherwise perform manually. Make sure to consider not just the core recordkeeping platform, but connected interfaces (e.g., partic ipant web portal) that could save a great deal of your time. Will the system grow with your company? As your company matures and the characte ristics of your employee base change, your equity plan will evolve. The system s hould be adequately flexible and robust to support evolution. Ideally, you shoul d be able to move from in-house administration to outsourcing on the same system

. Your answers to these questions may help you narrow down the wealth of software choices. Some systems are available as part of a software-only, in-house adminis tration solution while others are only offered in an outsourcing relationship wi th that particular provider. Once you know how you want to manage your technolog y platform, you are one step closer to finding the right administration structur e for your company. Bottom line Understand what you need a recordkeeping system to do and how you want to interact with it. Read & share the whole article for free at: http://www.solium.com/us/html/whitep apers/insource_or_outsource.htm