General thoughts on Datair?

Our firm has used Relius for a very long time and we're... Unhappy, to say the least. I've heard a lot of good things here about Datair. Does anyone have any experience with both programs with any notable differences in your experience? Also, I really have no scale of how outdated and clunky Datair is, and Relius is incredibly outdated and hard to use. Would someone mind sending me just a screenshot or two of the general Datair interface (with any firm-specific details blanked out, obviously)? It'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

34 minutes ago, Mleech said:

Also, I really have no scale of how outdated and clunky Datair is, and Relius is incredibly outdated and hard to use.

If Relius is Windows Vista, Datair is Windows Millennium. 

It all depends on the features you need though.  FT William has fewer features than Relius and Datair but is very streamlined and is web based.  ASC has more features than FTW, but is clunky (though less so than Relius and Datair).

Just my opinion of course, YMMV.

I'm sure Datai would be happy to share some screenshots and overviews and other marketing material.

I used Datair in the past and I liked it.  Less powerful than relius, but who really uses it to its capacity as a TPA?  Unless you are a daily shop and need pricing and transactions at market, there are other options that are just as good but cheaper.

I currently use Datair and used Relius for daily valuation until 2012.   Datair, (being rebranded as CalcAir, after Datair was sold) runs on a dedicated server on Windows.  It looks clunky and is menu based.  Below is a Pension System image for a plan. Datair is fine for compliance testing. Compared to Relius, Datair is faster since it is not transaction based.   Changing from one system to another is a lot of work. Plus, you lose the ability to access to historical system access. Asset tracking is different, census history is different, and plan specs are different.  It works fine, but probably not be an easy transition.

1 hour ago, BG5150 said:

I'm sure Datai would be happy to share some screenshots and overviews and other marketing material.

I used Datair in the past and I liked it.  Less powerful than relius, but who really uses it to its capacity as a TPA?  Unless you are a daily shop and need pricing and transactions at market, there are other options that are just as good but cheaper.

See, that's the thing, we're a TPA/Recordkeeper, so we really do use Relius on a level I think a lot of other firms aren't... We don't want to lose functionality but we're also sick of carrying 20 years of duct tape and superglue on a clunky system. Honestly I'm shocked there's no modernized, good software alternative in this day and age. 

17 minutes ago, Mleech said:

See, that's the thing, we're a TPA/Recordkeeper, so we really do use Relius on a level I think a lot of other firms aren't... We don't want to lose functionality but we're also sick of carrying 20 years of duct tape and superglue on a clunky system. 

Ive been at firms that use Relius for RK and other software for compliance.  No issues there. The devil is in the details though.  How many plans do you need to convert if you switch systems?  What kind of plans do you work on?  What features are you using? And so on...

22 minutes ago, Mleech said:

Honestly I'm shocked there's no modernized, good software alternative in this day and age. 

Its a fairly small industry.  Software development is expensive and takes time to recoup.  When users only have a handful to pick from, are you better off being #4 and spending little on improvements, or spending millions to be #1?  Dont get me started on the scarcity of RK software.

Datair, FT Williams and ASC do not have a recordkeeping platform, so they won't be of any help for your recordkeeping needs.  We used to do the plan testing in Datair and the recordkeeping in Relius.  However, that got cost prohibitive and we ended up moving everything to Relius.  

No matter what we do as recordkeepers, it is going to get a lot more expensive to stay in this industry as an independent recordkeeper in the next few years.

I will tell you I spoke to the team at ASC about their software and was very impressed. I would give them  a look.

My issue with Relius has really been on the service side. Many of you likely remember the "goo old days" where you would submit an incident and some incredible relius genius would call you back, do screen sharing, take control and fix whatever was wrong.  IT was a sight to behold.

personally I am very reliant on Crystal Reports. I  have done a ton  of custom reports. I don;t think any other packages are as flexible in that category.  Definitely a big advantage for Relius for me.

Are people aware that within 5 years Relius will no longer exist as thy are phasing it out?

16 hours ago, austin3515 said:

I will tell you I spoke to the team at ASC about their software and was very impressed. I would give them  a look.

My issue with Relius has really been on the service side. Many of you likely remember the "goo old days" where you would submit an incident and some incredible relius genius would call you back, do screen sharing, take control and fix whatever was wrong.  IT was a sight to behold.

personally I am very reliant on Crystal Reports. I  have done a ton  of custom reports. I don;t think any other packages are as flexible in that category.  Definitely a big advantage for Relius for me.

Are people aware that within 5 years Relius will no longer exist as thy are phasing it out?

I've heard good things about the ASC software; we actually use them for documents and are quite happy with it, but for some reason I was under the impression that they had sunset their recordkeeping software. Is that not the case?

I'm aware Relius is theoretically being sunset, that's why we're looking at other programs in the first place. I figure if we're going to have to switch anyway, we may as well take the opportunity to see if there's something out there better than Relius. Based on the things I saw and heard and Randug as well as my personal communications with Relius the past month or so, I highly doubt the system is actually going to be sunset on their given timeline, we're definitely some time out...

Crystal reports is a good point, I use it heavily as well, it's a lifesaver especially this time of year for Safe Harbor Match auditing and the like. Given that it's software that is independent of Relius (not developed or owned by FIS) and it's used by plenty of other industries for reporting, all it needs is access to a database. I'd be curious if you could just license a personal copy of Crystal Reports and use it with any other software.

We don;t do recordkeeping but I agree they definitely billed that as one of the advantages actually. Relius has a ton of stuff for daily val, so like 80% of the functionality doesn't apply, thus making it more complex for us platform / FBO/Pooled TPA's.

I used to use Crystal to merge the John Hancock year-end import files into a spreadsheet format, so yes it works with common data structures.  Basically setting the database to be a text file rather than the Oracle.

I miss Pentabs.

18 hours ago, austin3515 said:

Are people aware that within 5 years Relius will no longer exist as thy are phasing it out?

We are transitioning to FT William soon.  Not sure if this is the reason, but it could be.  I'm not privy to the C-Suite shenanigans here.

FT is my favorite company to work with.  Their stuff is just so smooth.

I miss the "good ol' days" when we could call Jacksonville and get an answer in 5 mins.  From people who actually used the software.  Not some guy in the programming department.

1 hour ago, BG5150 said:

I miss the "good ol' days" when we could call Jacksonville and get an answer in 5 mins.  From people who actually used the software.  Not some guy in the programming department.

When I first started working at a TPA/Recordkeeper a couple months ago I was so frustrated with the terrible layout of the software and lack of documentation, and I refused to just take "I'm not sure how to do it so I'll do it manually" as an answer, so in my first two or three months I opened I think about 50-60 tickets asking for documentation 😂. It actually got so bad they have my tickets being automatically forwarded from their "off-shores" team directly to two of their head support members here in the states because my questions are always too in-depth for the offshores people. Those two have been great to work with; it's such a shame they have people who know the system but route most people to the team that knows how to copy-and-paste from manuals they don't understand.

4 hours ago, austin3515 said:

FT is my favorite company to work with.  Their stuff is just so smooth.

Agreed.  There are some functions on my wish list, but nothing I cant live without.  The new single step processing function is really nice.

1 hour ago, Mleech said:

Those two have been great to work with; it's such a shame they have people who know the system but route most people to the team that knows how to copy-and-paste from manuals they don't understand.

So true.  I would submit these questions as a user of Relius for 20 years, this complex problem and the response was "please send a screenshot."  OF what?? Plan specs, census screen, transaction, I could go on 😂

In the new FIS Retirement Platform (FRP), there will be no Crystal Reports.  They are switching to ThoughtSpot.  FIS is also anticipating that we will be writing APIs to get data out of the system into usable reports.

If you are a Chief Technology Officer or someone who will be in the decision making chair for future software needs, you may want to check out www.rtug.org.  This is a Recordkeeping Technology User's Group.  This is a high level group of people well versed in IT and is not meant for the common Relius user.  This group is currently exploring all options available.

On 2/21/2025 at 4:20 PM, Mleech said:

I've heard good things about the ASC software; we actually use them for documents and are quite happy with it, but for some reason I was under the impression that they had sunset their recordkeeping software. Is that not the case?

I'm aware Relius is theoretically being sunset, that's why we're looking at other programs in the first place. I figure if we're going to have to switch anyway, we may as well take the opportunity to see if there's something out there better than Relius. Based on the things I saw and heard and Randug as well as my personal communications with Relius the past month or so, I highly doubt the system is actually going to be sunset on their given timeline, we're definitely some time out...

Crystal reports is a good point, I use it heavily as well, it's a lifesaver especially this time of year for Safe Harbor Match auditing and the like. Given that it's software that is independent of Relius (not developed or owned by FIS) and it's used by plenty of other industries for reporting, all it needs is access to a database. I'd be curious if you could just license a personal copy of Crystal Reports and use it with any other software.



Recently I implemented software from OKR tracking into my business, with the help of which I improved the process of setting and tracking work tasks.

It sounds like you're navigating a bit of uncertainty with the ASC and Relius software. From what I know, ASC has indeed made changes in their product lineup over time, but as for recordkeeping, it’s possible they haven’t sunsetted their software entirely. You might want to double-check with them directly, as they could still offer support or updates for certain features that aren’t as widely advertised.

I agree that if you're already considering a switch, it’s a good opportunity to explore alternatives. Relius has been a strong player in the field for years, but with its potential sunset, it could be wise to evaluate other options that might offer better flexibility or features that align more with your needs.

And on the Crystal Reports front, you're absolutely right—it's a powerful tool, and since it's independent, you should be able to use it with other software, provided you can connect to the relevant database. It might be worth exploring options where you can integrate Crystal Reports seamlessly into your workflow without relying too heavily on any single system.

Good luck with your decision-making process, and feel free to reach out if you want to discuss further.

We have used Datair for the past 10 years, no doubt other systems are easier. Used to use ftw until they were purchased and the prices skyrocketed and we went back with Datair.  Recently looked at few again, for a few reasons, mainly the database updates are clunky.  Also the only reason I use Windows is for Datair.  Was recently considering ftw for its simplicity and easier to use and cloud-based structure.

Word of caution, switch at an easier time of year ( if indeed “easier time” does exist),, when you have the time to convert and learn the system, not 3 months prior to any needed document restatements as there is just not enough time.

FTW will help with conversions, but only if one has a block of 100 plans of the same type; ie DB, DC with 401k, DC with SH and PSP.

Came across this thread looking while searching for something different.  ASC is most similar to Relius as there is a recordkeeping component and offers optional transactional processing.  There is also "compliance only" type functionality for those who are doing daily val on a different platform like SRT, Omni or even Relius DV.   You can install "on-prem" or you can subscribe to their hosting services.