Masterlink Securities

The Key to Gaining an Edge
Individual investing is a growing trend in Taiwan. Accordingly, international financial services providers have increased their presence in the market, creating severe competition for local securities firms. In the face of heightened competition, Taiwanese securities firms regard advanced data warehouse technology as key to gaining an edge.

Masterlink Securities differentiates itself in this competitive market by requiring its entire management to take responsibility for designated customer services. This inter-operational practice provides clients with more comprehensive investment services.

To better manage the resources and effectiveness of client interaction, Masterlink wanted to quantify its sales information in clear indices. Data warehouse technology not only made that possible, but it's also helping non-technical staff to understand information contained in the reports and make better decisions.

Pioneering a Platform
In 2000, Masterlink pioneered the use in its industry of a data warehouse inquiry and analysis platform. This single data platform smoothly incorporates all of Masterlink's business database and back-office systems. And it applies business analytics algorithms to gain same-day market insight from customer transaction data.

The company's transaction platform was based on Tandem hardware with data resident on MS SQL Server. Support for the existing hardware and software platforms was of paramount importance.

Masterlink implemented a solution using Sybase Industry Warehouse Studio (IWS) as the frame for incorporating information; Business Object as the front-end interface; Sybase IQ, the patented and high-performance inquiry processing technology, as the critical calculation engine; and Informatica's data integration solution, PowerMart. The new solution runs in Windows NT with server hardware from HP (HP NetServer LT 6000r).

Completed in 2000, the first phase of the data warehouse installation solution has successfully established a data inquiry platform framework for Masterlink's database. With 70 discrete users and 240 GB of data dispersed across 40 different locations and encompassing six different application systems, the platform fully incorporates brokerage, accounting and personnel information. The second phase of the system installation will include futures, funds, warrants and the application system database of the market information center.

Better Performance, Better Service
A wide range of users benefits from the new data inquiry platform, which features high-speed inquiry and calculation technology. With high-volume query and reporting processes capable of tracking daily movements in customer transactions, the Sybase-powered data warehouse has helped the firm increase the frequency with which different clients place orders. Masterlink staff can now respond rapidly to questions about clients' transactions by assessing alert messages from the daily transaction analysis report and supplementary information from sales representatives.

What's more, Masterlink Securities regards the data warehouse as an active client communications tool. For example, Masterlink's rich analyses of its market information originally could only be transmitted to a limited number of clients through the sales staff and on an ad-hoc basis. Now, the data warehouse can accurately locate the client name list and, via a transmission system, inform them instantly of transaction decisions.

"This data warehouse platform enables us to enhance the competitiveness of our customer services; it has also helped us establish a successful supplementary information network for our sales staff, which has reduced the adverse effect that staff mobility has on sales revenue," says Mr. Lin Dong He, deputy general manager of Masterlink Securities. "The combination of Sybase, Business Objects and Informatica technologies has helped us create a win-win situation for Masterlink and our clients."