Business Case: ESG Reporting Platform

Task

In search of a reliable new partner for the operation, further development and simultaneous refactoring of its ESG platform (ESG = "Environmental, Social and Governance" - criteria for evaluating the sustainable and ethical behavior of companies), a renowned financial services provider turned to inwt. The platform was used to create reports for the financial services provider's customers and recorded significant growth and a steadily expanding customer base. Importing data and creating reports using the platform still required many manual steps. At the same time, the implementation of new functionalities was increasingly disrupting continuous operations. Due to limited resources, the previous service provider that originally developed the platform was unable to keep pace with the rapidly growing requirements.

A new service provider was therefore sought to operate the ESG platform and at the same time undergo comprehensive refactoring and robustification. At the same time, the product had to be further developed in order to meet new customer requirements as well as regulatory requirements in a timely manner. It was crucial that the financial services provider's customer base was seamlessly supported throughout the entire process.

We took over the project and conducted an in-depth review of the existing code prior to the actual project launch, including detailed feedback to the client on the current status, feasibility and potential of the project.

Data

The data basis consisted of various sources, the import of which regularly broke off due to fluctuating data quality, missing values and changing data formats. Our focus during refactoring was on making the data import robust in this respect. To achieve maximum stability on the infrastructure side as well, we developed a modern backend for data storage and integration that scales flexibly in the cloud. The following steps were taken in the course of refactoring the data import:

• Automation of data integration: To increase efficiency and minimize human error, ETL pipelines were developed for automated data integration. This included the automatic matching of entities, which was previously done manually once a month. Automated tests were also implemented to continuously monitor data quality.
• Monitoring and automatic alerts: In order to be able to react promptly to any irregularities in the data, a monitoring system was set up that automatically sends alerts.
• Robustification of the code: The code was robustified so that it can react flexibly to fluctuations in data quality and deal with missing values without compromising overall functionality or requiring manual intervention. All special cases in the data were systematically intercepted. Automated tests ensure that the existing code delivers the correct results when new functionalities are implemented.

Software Development

The project was implemented through a comprehensive revision and refactoring of the product, the ESG platform. A particular focus was placed on scaling and automating the code using Docker and Kubernetes. This ensured that the product can grow with the customer base in the future without encountering technical obstacles. While the platform was being rebuilt, the old code continued to be operated during a transition phase. This enabled continuous delivery to the financial services provider's customers and a comparison between the old and new results. The development and production environments were clearly separated so that new features could be implemented without disrupting ongoing operations and the effect of changes in data processing on the reports could be systematically examined.

Solution

The finished solution is characterized by its automation, scalability and robust data import functionality. Product operations continued successfully, while the user experience was improved by introducing new reporting features. Releases were made in consultation with our client and their customers at pre-planned times so that all stakeholders could prepare for them.

Close collaboration with the financial services provider's team enabled a continuous transfer of knowledge. The code was handed over to our client's team at the end of the project, who were able to use and maintain the code with basic Python skills and little capacity. The switch resulted in significant time savings and associated costs by eliminating manual processes, while the product is now prepared for future growth. Overall, the change of service provider has added tremendous value in terms of efficiency, scalability and cost savings.