Investment Firm Adopts LC/NC Solution to Strengthen Data Security and Automate Asset Management
Case Study
Investment Firm Adopts LC/NC Solution to Strengthen Data Security and Automate Asset Management
About the Client
Our client is a leading investment firm managing over $30B in assets across a diverse portfolio of alternative assets, including private equity, venture capital, real estate, and infrastructure. With a reputation for strategic investments and a commitment to excellence, the firm operates with a high level of precision and efficiency.
Business Needs
In Financial Services, data security and information confidentiality are paramount. The client needed to equip investment professionals operating across global financial centers with the latest IT resources that enable precision, efficiency, and coordination. To maintain data confidentiality and to earn the trust of its investors, strict security measures and access protocols were required to ensure that the IT resources assigned to associates were secure. while allowing them to operate efficiently.
The current manual processes that relied on printed forms and paper approvals induced errors, were prone to misinterpretations and miscommunications, and caused substantial delays. Associates needed to periodically follow up to get an update on the status of their requests, that added to the inefficiency.
Switching to an automated solution would not only eliminate the delays, it would help the IT team to ensure the resources were configured with the right levels of security and provide centralized oversight.
Trigent recognized that this was more than just a workflow automation. It was core to the client’s need to ensure confidentiality, security and privacy of their investors’ information.
Trigent Solution
Trigent began by thoroughly assessing the client’s existing infrastructure and processes. Workshops and interviews with key stakeholders, from IT managers to end-users, provided a comprehensive understanding of the current processes, the pain points and inefficiencies.
Trigent’s assessment concluded the following
The reliance on printed forms caused significant processing delays, errors, miscommunication and bottlenecks, leading to inaccurate decisions.
There was a lack of visibility into the progress of various requests, leading to process-related inefficiencies that had spillover effects on business outcomes.
Implementing a role based security and access control system to adapt to the evolving threat environment would not be possible
Trigent also recognized that the Client required a simple, easy to use solution, preferably with softwares already licensed by them. Trigent recommended leveraging Microsoft Power Apps and Power Automate to address the client’s challenges.
- Power Apps allows for the creation of custom forms and applications without the need for extensive coding, making it ideal for digitizing the various manual forms used by the client.
- Power Automate provides robust workflow automation capabilities, enabling the automation of multi-step processes, reducing manual intervention, and ensuring consistent and efficient handling of requests.
- Both tools offer enterprise-grade security features, including data encryption and compliance with industry standards, ensuring that sensitive information is protected.
- Both tools integrate seamlessly with SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams, platforms already familiar to the client, ensuring a smoother transition and higher adoption rates.
- The scalability and flexibility of these tools would allow the client to adapt and expand their digital solutions as their needs evolved.
Key Components of Trigent’s Solution:
- SharePoint Online Dashboard: Trigent first created a centralized dashboard in SharePoint Online to provide a real-time overview of various requests, ensuring stakeholders had immediate access to crucial information. Our team customized the dashboard to meet the client’s specific needs, offering detailed views and customizable options.
- Custom Forms with Power Apps: To replace the cumbersome printed forms, we developed 25+ custom forms using Power Apps. These digital forms covered a wide range of processes, including employee onboarding and IT requests, allowing for seamless and efficient data entry and submission. Each form was designed to be user-friendly, ensuring a smooth transition for the client’s employees.
- Automated Workflows with Power Automate: Recognizing the need for speed and accuracy, we implemented more than 30 multi-level state machine workflows using Power Automate. These workflows automated the approval processes, reducing manual intervention and significantly speeding up the turnaround time for requests. The workflows were meticulously designed to handle various approval hierarchies and contingencies, ensuring no request was left unattended.
- Data Migration: As part of the solution, Trigent took on the complex task of migrating over 50 GB of data from the client’s legacy intranet portal, Centric, to the new SharePoint Online environment. This migration was carried out with precision, ensuring all historical data was preserved and seamlessly integrated into the new system.
- Microsoft Teams Integration: To enhance communication and collaboration, we integrated approval requests with Microsoft Teams. This allowed managers and IT staff to handle approvals directly within the Teams environment, further streamlining the process. Notifications and updates were synchronized with Teams, ensuring timely actions and responses.
Client Benefits
The implementation of Trigent’s solution brought about a transformative change in the client’s operational workflow. The key benefits included:
- Digitized Processes: Replacing manual forms with digital ones significantly reduced paperwork and manual data entry, resulting in a 3x increase in processing requests.
- Improved Efficiency: Automated workflows eliminated bottlenecks and minimized delays, ensuring timely fulfillment of requests. The SharePoint Online dashboard provided a clear view of request statuses, enabling proactive management and quicker resolution of issues.
- Enhanced Transparency: Real-time tracking and visibility into the progress of requests fostered a transparent and accountable work environment.
- Better Collaboration: Integration with Microsoft Teams facilitated better communication and collaboration among team members, ensuring that approvals and updates were handled promptly.
- Data Accessibility and Insights: The migration of data to SharePoint Online not only preserved the client’s historical data but also made it more accessible. The new system generated reports 3x faster.
- Increased Security: Enterprise-grade security features ensured that sensitive information was protected, maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of client data.