Information Builders Case Studies International Financial Data Services Builds Customer Equity With WebFOCUS

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	International Financial Data Services Builds Customer Equity With WebFOCUS Information Builders

International Financial Data Services Builds Customer Equity With WebFOCUS

Information Builders

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries	Finance & Insurance
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Sales & Marketing
Use Cases	Predictive Quality Analytics Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services	Software Design & Engineering Services System Integration Training
Challenge	IFDS clients lacked self-service reporting and analysis tools that could visualize disparate data in a meaningful way. In many instances, clients had to hire a third-party firm to translate raw transaction data into a format that was useful for reporting and analysis. IFDS set out to eliminate the need for third-party solution providers by providing business intelligence (BI) tools that its clients can use themselves. To achieve this transformation and create a dashboard-driven environment for reporting and analysis, IFDS used technology and services from Information Builders. Read More
About Customer	Based in Toronto, International Financial Data Services (IFDS) Canada provides outsourcing administration services and technology to the mutual fund, insurance, and banking industries in Canada and internationally. Commonly known as a transfer agency, IFDS owns and operates its own record-keeping system, called iFAST, which is used by more than 150 organizations, mostly mutual fund companies. In Canada, as the largest net settlement user over the FundSERV network, IFDS processes an average of 100,000 transactions each day. Read More
Solution	Information Builders helped IFDS to develop IFDS Insight, a comprehensive business intelligence solution for executives and sales officers. IFDS retained Information Builders Professional Services to help construct IFDS Insight, a BI dashboard and associated reports based on the WebFOCUS BI platform. Their foremost objective was to emulate the client experience through user-friendly reports and dashboards. The team also created a mobile version of the solution for smartphones and tablets. The internal IT group at IFDS collaborated closely throughout the development cycle to create the solution and build a business intelligence competency center. Information Builders spearheaded the development work and up-front testing while IFDS helped integrate the new BI environment with its surrounding infrastructure. Information Builders also helped construct the back-end database. This involved extracting data related to funds, categories, share classes, dealers, and advisors from the iFAST record-keeping system and loading it into a repository optimized for reporting. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration

Applicable Industries

Finance & Insurance

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Predictive Quality Analytics

Real-Time Location System (RTLS)

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services

System Integration

Training

Challenge

IFDS clients lacked self-service reporting and analysis tools that could visualize disparate data in a meaningful way. In many instances, clients had to hire a third-party firm to translate raw transaction data into a format that was useful for reporting and analysis. IFDS set out to eliminate the need for third-party solution providers by providing business intelligence (BI) tools that its clients can use themselves. To achieve this transformation and create a dashboard-driven environment for reporting and analysis, IFDS used technology and services from Information Builders.

About Customer

Based in Toronto, International Financial Data Services (IFDS) Canada provides outsourcing administration services and technology to the mutual fund, insurance, and banking industries in Canada and internationally. Commonly known as a transfer agency, IFDS owns and operates its own record-keeping system, called iFAST, which is used by more than 150 organizations, mostly mutual fund companies. In Canada, as the largest net settlement user over the FundSERV network, IFDS processes an average of 100,000 transactions each day.

Solution

Information Builders helped IFDS to develop IFDS Insight, a comprehensive business intelligence solution for executives and sales officers. IFDS retained Information Builders Professional Services to help construct IFDS Insight, a BI dashboard and associated reports based on the WebFOCUS BI platform. Their foremost objective was to emulate the client experience through user-friendly reports and dashboards. The team also created a mobile version of the solution for smartphones and tablets. The internal IT group at IFDS collaborated closely throughout the development cycle to create the solution and build a business intelligence competency center. Information Builders spearheaded the development work and up-front testing while IFDS helped integrate the new BI environment with its surrounding infrastructure. Information Builders also helped construct the back-end database. This involved extracting data related to funds, categories, share classes, dealers, and advisors from the iFAST record-keeping system and loading it into a repository optimized for reporting.

Impact #1	IFDS Insight helps clients make more informed business decisions, differentiates IFDS from its competitors, and improves customer retention scores.
Impact #2	IFDS Insight is now live, in production, and quickly gaining adherents. For example, one of IFDS’s largest clients is conducting a pilot with the new tools. Business users at this company find it very easy to get the data they need with a few clicks of a mouse or taps on a screen.
Impact #3	Developers used the event-notification capabilities of WebFOCUS to devise a subscription-based alerting system that permits people to receive information and reports as critical events occur or when stated business conditions are met, such as when total trading volume reaches a preset threshold.

Impact #1

IFDS Insight helps clients make more informed business decisions, differentiates IFDS from its competitors, and improves customer retention scores.

Impact #2

IFDS Insight is now live, in production, and quickly gaining adherents. For example, one of IFDS’s largest clients is conducting a pilot with the new tools. Business users at this company find it very easy to get the data they need with a few clicks of a mouse or taps on a screen.

Impact #3

Developers used the event-notification capabilities of WebFOCUS to devise a subscription-based alerting system that permits people to receive information and reports as critical events occur or when stated business conditions are met, such as when total trading volume reaches a preset threshold.

Benefit #1	IFDS expects that 75 percent of its customers will adopt the IFDS Insight solution.

Benefit #1

IFDS expects that 75 percent of its customers will adopt the IFDS Insight solution.

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Overview

International Financial Data Services Builds Customer Equity With WebFOCUS

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit