"By demonstrating the breadth and depth of our knowledge, we have been able to partner with firms internationally, who can see immediately that we have a competitive edge. Effectively, we are quite a small company using FileMaker in a very specific manner, but we have been able to convert what has historically been a cost centre, into a key sales and marketing tool."

IMAS

FileMaker Enhances IMAS Knowledge Management

Over the past decade, IMAS Corporate Advisors has built and refined a unique proprietary knowledge management system. Known as 'MaxImas', it provides comprehensive analysis of over 40,000 companies operating in the UK financial services sector. This information is linked to more than 20,000 non-financial records, covering industry developments that are cross-referenced by company, sector and activity. Such information is core to IMAS' business and provides it with vital insights into the profile of potential buyers and industry trends.

"What distinguishes our approach is our enormous in-depth knowledge of the industry derived from a highly-structured approach to the gathering and saving of information – both financial and non-financial. This is what the MaxImas application is all about," states Olly Laughton-Scott, managing director and founder of IMAS. "We sell our services on the fact that we have a better knowledge of the dynamics of the financial services market and, specifically, likely buyers for client's business."

The company started building MaxImas 13 years ago, originally using Microsoft Access. In 2005, attempts to re-write the application in Access were unsuccessful, as was the commissioning of a completely new system using VB.NET.

"The Access database was very successful, but it had got long in the tooth and because it was already quite sophisticated, we needed to bring in a specialist developer," Laughton-Scott explains. "Most systems are process-driven, whereas we just store and retrieve information, making it very difficult to explain to an outsider how we work. Thus we were looking for a flexible and rapid development tool that would allow us to be more open in our specifications."

Following a competitive tender, IMAS commissioned Cordis, the UK’s largest certified developer of FileMaker, to conduct a 'ground up' development of MaxImas using FileMaker Pro. "It was clear that heavyweight solutions such as SQL and .NET were more expensive and time consuming, while a further benefit was that FileMaker was able to interface with other databases."

Powerful & rapid development

According to Laughton-Scott, FileMaker provided the rapid development IMAS required, with the assurance that further development would be robust: "We've been delighted with FileMaker in terms of both its power and its ability to be rapidly developed… We don't need a huge processing capability but we do need to develop an extremely tailored solution to our specific needs."

The new MaxImus application was created within a year of Cordis being brought in, and went live in the summer of 2007. Using FileMaker Pro's ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) functionality, Cordis was able to migrate data automatically from the legacy Access database. Furthermore, FileMaker incorporates standard templates and procedures, so that future enhancements can be made without impacting system stability.

The latest incarnation of MaxImas consolidates three legacy databases and has introduced new analysis and reporting functions, enabling data integrity to be examined in far more detail than was possible previously. "We were able to build on top of the existing structure relatively easy and facilitate the increasing complexity of what we were looking to do. For example, being able to analyse the data we have collected in ever-greater detail, and produce 'Exceptions Reports'," says Laughton-Scott.

IMAS is now able to extract and clean its data easily, ensuring internal consistency in the classification of companies. "We have lots of reports that enable us to pick up data anomalies and inconsistencies and correct them – whereas in the past, we were unable to design reports of a sufficiently detailed nature," he points out. "And when you are dealing with 40,000 companies, you need to be able to examine information on an 'exceptions' basis."

Promoting future business

FileMaker has also enabled IMAS to publish portions of the information held within MaxImus online, via its new website. Currently in 'Beta', the IMAS website interacts with the MaxImus application on a daily basis, providing a cost-effective medium for making internal data publicly available, and also giving the ability to interface with data provided by external sites – such as those of Companies House and the Financial Services Authority.

Although it is too early to measure the impact of this online development, Laughton-Scott is convinced that it has already been a huge asset in building complex relationships. "By demonstrating the breadth and depth of our knowledge, we have been able to partner with firms internationally, who can see immediately that we have a competitive edge. Effectively, we are quite a small company using FileMaker in a very specific manner, but we have been able to convert what has historically been a cost centre, into a key sales and marketing tool."

IMAS is now looking to address other areas of the business using FileMaker. Operational performance monitoring for example, will enable it to move progressively towards becoming a one-system company – giving it the ability to record the number of meetings held, handle scheduling and calendar functions, and apply consistent operational reporting methods. IMAS is already using FileMaker to conduct complex mail merges, and check the data produced against third-party databases.