Web Application • Product Development • ASP.NET / SQL Server
About the Client
FinPro, Inc., established in 1987, is a New Jersey-based full service management consulting firm specializing in providing advisory services to the financial institutions industry. An industry leader in strategic planning, board retreat moderation, planning, enterprise risk management, leadership and education, corporate governance, market feasibility, de novo bank formation, asset/liability management, and regulatory consulting.
Gladstone, New Jersey
Fintech, Compliance
ASP.NET, SQL Server, Office
2014
Project in a Nutshell:
Build a scalable solution that automates the generation of large PowerPoint financial presentations using database technology.
FinPro generates huge, 500 page PowerPoint presentations for clients across the USA. This is time-consuming, error-prone and computer intensive, considering that each presentation requires 45 minutes to process. It is a scalability challenge. We designed a scalable solution leveraging Microsoft Office, database, web and Rackspace cloud technology, combined with good old-fashioned American ingenuity.
Goals and Objectives
Create a scalable solution that reduces human effort and unlocks growth.FinPro needed a solution that would allow them to scale output as their business grew. Their main goal was to replace manually inputting data into PowerPoint with a database solution that would automate the process. This would free up valuable resources, and allow FinPro to grow.
Unique Challenges
Create a solution that utilizes desktop technology, yet provides on-demand scalability.Because Microsoft PowerPoint is a desktop application automating the generation of large, complex presentations using Windows Server would be time-consuming, expensive and impractical. We had to device a way to leverage the presentation templates FinPro already had, while providing a scalable platform to fuel growth.
The Results
A solution that spins up and generates PowerPoint presentations using virtual machines.We accomplished FinPro’s goals by architecting both a web-based solution to capture information and a queuing system, which interfaced with Rackspace’s cloud platform to “spin up” dedicated PowerPoint virtual machines on-demand. This provided scalability by freeing up FinPro employees to work on multiple presentations simultaneously, while also minimizing cloud costs.
