Leading financial services company enhances customer service by improving its database system
A need for better information management
As one of the largest managers of financial assets in the UK, this InterSystems client has worked hard to build a reputation for financial security and investment success for over 150 years. However, they recognize that longevity alone is no guarantee of future growth.
“While our experience and stability are vital assets, we know that our reputation can only be maintained by providing the highest standards of service,” says the company’s IT Manager. “Whether the markets are performing well or poorly, providing customer satisfaction is always our first priority.”
Therefore, one of the firm’s key performance indicators is the way that it manages the huge volumes of data that it presents to its institutional investors. With this focus on customer service in mind, the IT department identified its operational database as an area where significant, measurable value could be added to the business.
The legacy system was highly reliable and robust, but its inflexibility made it difficult to tackle compliance issues – which also led to a growing administrative burden. “As our business grows, so does the amount of data processing, which also leads to pressure on work schedules,” says the IT Manager. “Added to this, we have an ongoing requirement to meet external legal and regulatory business mandates from the Financial Services Authority.”
A seamless migration to a more flexible and open database
After consulting with InterSystems, the client concluded that they could achieve all the application and data integration that was required by implementing InterSystems technologies. A high performance object database provides many database interfaces, including industry-standard ODBC and JDBC, and Web-based interfaces, for more efficient data import, export and user presentation.
“InterSystems technology met all our technical criteria,” says the IT Manager. Originally, the applications ran on a reliable but old HP VMS operating system. The upgrade enabled the company to migrate to a Linux-based platform, reducing costs and providing flexible options for deployment and management.
“There were some very attractive price and performance benefits for the Linux migration. At the same time, the upgrade enabled us to take advantage of new capabilities. These included application developer productivity features. Also, Web service authentication enhancements and XML performance improvements were important for security, and meant that users would see their Web-based applications run faster,” says the IT Manager.
“The migration went without incident. Even though InterSystems Worldwide Response Center was placed on alert for the go-live weekend, its assistance was not required even once.”
The Business Benefits of Using the Right Database System
Improved customer service
Since the introduction of InterSystems technology, the firm’s use of application and system interfaces to seamlessly exchange data with other applications – especially Web-based – has grown dramatically.
“A large proportion of our business is based around institutional investment, so it is imperative that we provide these customers with the relevant information in an effective way. InterSystems technology enables us to provide accurate, up-to-date pension fund valuations to our institutional investors – which is why we view it as an integral part of our client satisfaction programme.”
Regulatory compliance
As well as providing information to investors, the customer is also compelled to provide information to the Financial Services Authority, the independent UK regulator.
“It is now much easier for us to manage massive amounts of data, and respond to requests from financial market regulators in a timely and cost-effective manner,” says the IT Manager.
Improved performance, investment protected
Since installing InterSystems technology, our client has seen a level of performance improvement that has significantly reduced processing times and helped to prolong the life of existing hardware, thereby delaying further capital investment.
“We have high expectations for where our partnership with InterSystems will take us in the future,” says the IT Manager.
Learn more of how leading companies are overcoming these challenges to connect events, insights, and actions in real time to deliver outstanding customer experiences and capitalize on new business ities.
