Interview with Anna Barańska, Product Owner at FINGO

With the debut of iON on the cloud, FINGO Systems is expanding its SaaS service offering. "With this service, customers will find it easier to comply with regulations, simplify daily reporting processes and better manage data" - explains Anna Barańska, Product Owner responsible for application development. "iON in SaaS service will be perfect for smaller financial institutions and foreign bank subsidiaries for which frequent updating of systems and taxonomies is quite a challenge".

A modern application for register reporting is now available in the cloud. What does this mean for the customer?

First and foremost, the transition to a SaaS model is a significant liberation for us, as it not only changes the technology but also the customer approach. The key difference is that we are offering a service that frees the customer from the need to install, maintain, and operate themselves. With SaaS, the customer benefits from an off-the-shelf service, without the burden of managing servers, equipment, or a dedicated team to manage the system. This is a significant freedom, saving both in terms of hardware costs and human capital.  

Why does it pay off?

The customer also does not need to invest in software licenses, as we provide all the necessary tools as part of the service. We also guarantee that our service complies with all legal requirements and standards imposed by the supervisor. So the customer can log in and complete reporting tasks without worrying about infrastructure or data security.

The most significant advantage of SaaS is that the customer only pays for the functions they actually need - such as processing data, converting it into the right formats, and sending reports to supervisors. Since the customer does not incur the one-off costs of purchasing infrastructure or maintaining administrators, the SaaS fee offsets these expenses that were previously on the customer's side. This ensures a secure and cost-effective investment for the customer.

What about the on-premise solution?

We still offer this option, and most of our customers, including all commercial banks, are now using the on-premise version. I assume that many of them will stay with this model for a long time because they already have their infrastructure and administrators to support it. Moving to SaaS is a small priority for them unless such a decision is made at a strategic level. If a bank decides that it is migrating all its solutions to the cloud, then SaaS becomes their natural choice.  

On the other hand, smaller entities like exchange offices or payment institutions often lack the infrastructure and human resources to maintain an on-premise solution. For them, SaaS offers a more convenient and manageable alternative.  

This does not change the fact that we are also talking to some of our larger clients about migrating to the cloud. Some organisations are slowly considering moving to SaaS, but many large corporations prefer the on-premise model. Sometimes they prefer to avoid additional procedures, such as notifications to the FSA in connection with the transition to SaaS, and keep everything on their side. This is more convenient for them.

How has the migration of iON to the cloud enhanced the company's offering?

iON is an extension of our cloud services that significantly enhances the complementarity of our entire portfolio. Until now, we have mainly offered eON in the cloud for XBRL and EBA reporting, as well as ONboard, which increases resource efficiency by waking and putting applications to sleep, helping to optimize infrastructure costs.

The addition of iON to the cloud allows us to offer a broader range of reports available to clients. We are also introducing new applications, such as AWF, that enable business process orchestration. As part of this infrastructure, we are also deploying tools for processing large volumes of data, which gives us the ability to scale the operation of applications using Spark-like technology familiar to our on-premise solution.

Our expansion into a broader range of cloud products is a testament to our growth and commitment to providing comprehensive solutions. This extension of our SaaS service not only gives customers more reporting options but also enhances their ability to manage their business processes, marking an exciting new chapter in our company's journey.

Where will this solution work best?

The cloud is essential in register reporting, automation, and processing large volumes of data, as it simplifies technology management and eliminates many of the problems associated with infrastructure maintenance.

For small payment institutions, national payment institutions, or cooperative banks that do not have the resources for an extensive IT infrastructure, the cloud avoids the costs associated with server maintenance or application administration. With SaaS, they can use off-the-shelf solutions without investing in hardware and specialists to manage the infrastructure.

For larger companies, such as branches of foreign banks, the cloud offers a solution to complex and time-consuming processes. It eliminates the delays often experienced in updating applications, such as reporting updates to the parent company, scheduling deployments, and managing budgets between different branches. This can prevent users from operating on outdated versions, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities and security gaps.

In the SaaS model, the supplier plays a crucial role. They take on the responsibility for the application, managing ongoing updates, security, and deploying new versions. 

This ensures that customers always have access to the latest software version without involving their IT team in the maintenance and update planning processes. This is particularly important for companies that do not want to worry about infrastructure management and can focus on their core business. The cloud simplifies technology management, eliminating the complex processes involved in maintaining applications and allowing large volumes of data to be more easily managed in an automated manner.

And what determines whether an application makes sense on the cloud?

Many factors influence the decision to migrate an application to the cloud, but the primary one is the type of reporting it supports and the characteristics of its audience. The decision depends on the organization's size, the type of business, its reporting needs, and its IT strategy. Smaller organizations without their own technical resources are more likely to choose the cloud, while larger entities may stick with on-premise solutions for longer.

Why does the type of reporting matter?

The type of reporting affects how large and complex a solution will need to be. For example, suppose there is an application for reporting transactions that exceed specific amounts (as in the case of filings with the GIIF). In that case, small entities that generate few such transactions may use simple tools, such as the GIIF's website, where they manually enter data. In contrast, larger institutions that generate hundreds of such transactions daily will need more complex, automated tools, often installed locally or in the cloud, depending on their resources and infrastructure.

And does the size of the company matter, or is it more about what infrastructure it has?

If a company is large but has a limited IT infrastructure, it will often opt for a SaaS solution as it does not require investing in hardware and management staff. In contrast, large institutions such as banks that already have their infrastructure may only prefer an on-premise solution if their strategy indicates a migration to the cloud.

The decision to move applications to the cloud is also linked to an organization's long-term strategy. Some companies already assume upfront that they will be moving entirely to cloud solutions, abandoning the on-premise option. Others are still calculating whether maintaining their own infrastructure or moving to a service model such as SaaS is more profitable.

Imagine a scenario where a company is strategizing its cloud migration and searching for the best solution. What sets iON apart from other cloud migration solutions?

The key advantage of iON, when compared to other solutions, lies in its comprehensive and user-friendly reporting process. It's not just about generating XML files, but about the ease and efficiency with which this is done. While XML reporting may seem simple, iON stands out in several crucial aspects that are significant to customers:

1. ‍Working on and analyzing the data: generating an XML file is one thing, but working on and analyzing the raw data can be complex, especially with large volumes of data. iON allows users to visualize the data hierarchically, making it easier to view, navigate and verify. This allows for more advanced analysis, which is challenging in a raw XML file. ‍
2. Validation rules and validation against schemas: iON offers functionality to validate data against additional rules and check against the required schema. This ensures that the data complies with the supervisors' reporting requirements, minimizing the risk of errors and the need for subsequent corrections. ‍
3. Support for the entire reporting process: While other systems may provide tools for generating XML files, iON supports the full reporting process, including:
   - Signing documents with a qualified digital signature.
   - Sending reports to supervisors.
   - Receiving returned reports and handling data corrections based on responses from supervisors.
   
   This end-to-end approach to reporting, from data preparation to sending and receiving reports, is a significant advantage for iON.
   ‍
4. Report repository and archive: iON allows you to create a repository and archive of all the reports you have sent in one place, making them easy to manage and review in the future. It is a user-friendly application that organizes the reporting process and eliminates the need to work on raw XML files.

In short, iON facilitates the generation of reports. It provides a complete tool to manage the reporting, verification, and correction process, making it a more advanced solution than simple XML file generation tools.

Does the cloud version differ in terms of functionality from the on-premises version?

The general assumption is that the functionality of the application remains the same. We do not differentiate between the cloud version and the on-premise version. We build one application that we distribute to both on-premise and cloud customers. DevOps deploys it in a cloud environment, and customers use it in a SaaS model.

And what's next? In what direction will the app evolve?

Firstly, when we launch iON on the cloud, it will still be such a 'basic version.' For our first customers who will be using the cloud service, it will run 24/7. There will not yet be an automatic wake-up and sleep function at this stage, but eventually, we want to add these mechanisms to manage infrastructure resources efficiently.  

The next step will be integration with ONboard, which will act as a central dashboard - the kind of small, lightweight application that runs 24/7 and allows you to manage different systems, including iON. It will be responsible for monitoring the status of reports, and if the user wants to move on to working with data, the iON app will be awakened, and the user will be redirected to the relevant functions. We also want to create a dedicated dashboard for iON in ONboard so that the user does not have to log into the application itself to check the status of reports.

In addition, we plan to introduce two levels of approval functionality - the report would first be in edit status, then frozen, and then go through the approval process before sending. Other ideas include optimizing the process of sending and receiving reports, better integration with registry systems, and automatic sending and filtering of data.

Further planned improvements include more advanced filtering, global log auditing, table navigation, and copying values without delving into the data structure.

And will customers be able to customize these tools?  

In the long term, we want to enable users to create their reports by uploading a new matrix defining their columns and working on these reports within the application. This will allow for more flexible data management and system customization.

Another aspect to consider is the implementation of analytical tools that will allow users to create customized business rules and alerts. This feature will put the power in the users' hands, allowing them to define what the system should focus on, particularly in the analysis of reports.