Pohjola – Data warehouse solution for risk management needs
The purpose of Pohjola Bank’s customer and contract data warehouse (ASO) is to automate the reporting of Pohjola Group’s risk management and to support the credit decision-making process. Large quantities of data and product-specific ledgers posed challenges for the project, which is reflected in the large number of source systems. ASO centralizes the data in one place and creates an overall picture of the customer’s banking relationship.
According to Jouko Pölönen, Director of Risk Management, the most significant benefit of ASO is that it supports and streamlines the decision-making process. According to Pölönen, ASO will play a key role in the bank’s risk management, as the solution will make it easier to monitor, report, and predict risks. With ASO, risk management can also access information that was previously not easily available. “Collecting complete data comprehensively of the customer relationship is practically impossible to do manually – ASO significantly improves the quality of the operations,” says Pölönen.
Data warehouse enables up-to-date reporting
ASO’s browser-based user interface based on the J2EE architecture enables efficient distribution of information across the Group. The way the user interface is realized makes it possible to use the application in a browser without installing software on workstations. Customer-specific reports and time series reports have been created for users, which makes it easy to monitor the development of credit risks.
ASO has nearly 20 source systems, each of which releases several interface files for the data warehouse’s use. The diversity of interface files places high demands on data harmonization and editing. The data warehouse solution implemented by Loihde Advance centralizes customer and contract data scattered in Pohjola’s heterogeneous source system environment in one place and enables harmonized and up-to-date reporting for the entire Group. The data warehouse solution was realized with the SAS/Warehouse Administrator product. The use of a visual and functional ETL tool has been a key element in the management of the data warehouse process.
Jouko Pölönen places great importance on Loihde Advances’ role in the ASO project. “Collaboration with Loihde Advance has gone very well from our point of view – flexibly, efficiently, and in complete agreement. Loihde Advances’ experience in data warehousing projects has helped with the design and implementation of ASO’s architecture, tool selection, and project execution.” According to Pölönen, Loihde Advances’ greatest strengths have been its technical expertise, flexibility, and substantial experience with the SAS tool. “Without a professional and flexible supplier, this project would have been impossible,” says Pölönen.
