Information Builders Case Studies Firma Extends Analytics to Employees and Customers With WebFOCUS

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	Firma Extends Analytics to Employees and Customers With WebFOCUS Information Builders

Firma Extends Analytics to Employees and Customers With WebFOCUS

Information Builders

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
Applicable Industries	Finance & Insurance
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Sales & Marketing
Use Cases	Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services	Data Science Services System Integration
Challenge	Firma Foreign Exchange, a global firm providing international payment currency solutions, was facing challenges in streamlining the creation of secure, dynamic analytics based on current account data. The company wanted to extend data management and visualization capabilities to traders, managers, and executives. Additionally, Firma wanted to deliver customer-facing analytics to account holders to provide transactional transparency. The company's business community was generating SQL reports and creating Excel spreadsheets to examine operational data. Plus, they manually created thousands of monthly statements and e-mailed them to their customers. Firma wanted to find easier ways to access, analyze, and distribute this business information. Read More
About Customer	Firma Foreign Exchange is a global firm based in Edmonton, Alberta. The company provides international payment currency solutions, primarily for small and medium-sized businesses. Firma is a global company, with offices in Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. For more than 20 years the company has been helping clients move more than $14 billion in payments around the world, safely and securely. Firma knows that currency exchange can be complicated and is committed to keeping it simple and secure. Firma is also known for its dedicated, one-on-one service. Customers are assigned personal currency specialists (traders) who learn their clients’ business needs, so that they can monitor the elements that affect currency decisions. Read More
Solution	To improve its data management and analytics capabilities, Firma selected Information Builders’ technologies to automate three primary activities: develop an analytics portal for its internal staff, create interactive e-Statements for customers, and create a data mart of financial and operational data. In the first phase of the project, Firma used the WebFOCUS business intelligence (BI) platform and AppStudio to create an interactive portal that presents a unified view of gross profits, revenue, and sales across 10 domestic and international branches. Authorized users can access information and statistics about trades and many other facets of the foreign exchange operation. Drop-down menus allow them to filter the data and visualize it through bar graphs, pie charts, and other interactive displays. Firma used WebFOCUS Active Technologies to create dynamic documents that can be sent to customers by e-mail. Also known as In-Document Analytics, each dynamic document combines data and interactive controls into a single, self-contained HTML file. Recipients can analyze the data offline using embedded analytical functions – such as charting, sorting, filtering, calculations, pivoting, and roll-ups – without having to remember passwords, log in to a portal, or connect to Firma’s servers. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)

Applicable Industries

Finance & Insurance

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

Services

Data Science Services

System Integration

Challenge

Firma Foreign Exchange, a global firm providing international payment currency solutions, was facing challenges in streamlining the creation of secure, dynamic analytics based on current account data. The company wanted to extend data management and visualization capabilities to traders, managers, and executives. Additionally, Firma wanted to deliver customer-facing analytics to account holders to provide transactional transparency. The company's business community was generating SQL reports and creating Excel spreadsheets to examine operational data. Plus, they manually created thousands of monthly statements and e-mailed them to their customers. Firma wanted to find easier ways to access, analyze, and distribute this business information.

About Customer

Firma Foreign Exchange is a global firm based in Edmonton, Alberta. The company provides international payment currency solutions, primarily for small and medium-sized businesses. Firma is a global company, with offices in Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. For more than 20 years the company has been helping clients move more than $14 billion in payments around the world, safely and securely. Firma knows that currency exchange can be complicated and is committed to keeping it simple and secure. Firma is also known for its dedicated, one-on-one service. Customers are assigned personal currency specialists (traders) who learn their clients’ business needs, so that they can monitor the elements that affect currency decisions.

Solution

To improve its data management and analytics capabilities, Firma selected Information Builders’ technologies to automate three primary activities: develop an analytics portal for its internal staff, create interactive e-Statements for customers, and create a data mart of financial and operational data. In the first phase of the project, Firma used the WebFOCUS business intelligence (BI) platform and AppStudio to create an interactive portal that presents a unified view of gross profits, revenue, and sales across 10 domestic and international branches. Authorized users can access information and statistics about trades and many other facets of the foreign exchange operation. Drop-down menus allow them to filter the data and visualize it through bar graphs, pie charts, and other interactive displays. Firma used WebFOCUS Active Technologies to create dynamic documents that can be sent to customers by e-mail. Also known as In-Document Analytics, each dynamic document combines data and interactive controls into a single, self-contained HTML file. Recipients can analyze the data offline using embedded analytical functions – such as charting, sorting, filtering, calculations, pivoting, and roll-ups – without having to remember passwords, log in to a portal, or connect to Firma’s servers.

Impact #1	Business users spend less time wrangling data and more time gathering insights.
Impact #2	Customers have complete autonomy to view their transaction data.
Impact #3	The entire process of sending out account statements is now better automated – and more personalized.

Impact #1

Business users spend less time wrangling data and more time gathering insights.

Impact #2

Customers have complete autonomy to view their transaction data.

Impact #3

The entire process of sending out account statements is now better automated – and more personalized.

Benefit #1	Reduced workload for three staff members who were previously devoted to managing account statements and entering wire templates for global traders.

Benefit #1

Reduced workload for three staff members who were previously devoted to managing account statements and entering wire templates for global traders.

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Overview

Firma Extends Analytics to Employees and Customers With WebFOCUS

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit