Context and business issues

Verafin, based in St. John's, Newfoundland, produces software which detects fraud and money laundering. It also provides compliance solutions for financial institutions. The company, founded in 2003, has more 120 employees and continues to expand. Verafin has a customer base of over 800 financial institutions, which the company notes is growing rapidly. The company sets itself apart from its competitors by utilizing artificial intelligence and behaviour-based analytics. In order to present product documentation to customers, Verafin required an online platform. The business turned to Kitchener, Ontario-based Igloo Software for a cloud computing solution. 

The cloud solution

Igloo created a domain for Verafin using cloud computing applications. The domain functions as an online community for Verafin's customers. Igloo also set up customized wikis, which allowed Verafin information developers DeAnne Kelly and Rae Lynn O'Keefe to post updates on the site. Igloo's graphic designer worked with Kelly and O'Keefe to establish colour schemes for the site.

Kelly and O'Keefe were responsible for implementing the Igloo technology at Verafin. O'Keefe explained, "Igloo created the domain, we built the community to our specifications, and now our customers launch it through their web browser." The two information developers were able to launch the community site immediately, although O'Keefe noted that Igloo added features over time. American and Canadian Verafin customers can post comments, questions, and request features for future products.

O'Keefe recounted that there were two major challenges: creating a platform which would allow Verafin employees to upload product documentation themselves, and separating the American and Canadian customer domains. America and Canada are subject to different financial regulations, so Verafin needs to display different documentation to different audiences.  Once Kelly and O'Keefe told Igloo what Verafin needed, the software developer was able to provide it to the company.

Outcomes, lessons learned, and best practices

The most important lesson O'Keefe said she learned from this process is that a company that wants to establish an online community for its clients must determine how it will maintain, administer, and monitor it. It is a task with which O'Keefe admits Verafin must still contend with. 

O'Keefe also shared a best practice: documenting and understanding every phase that both the software developer and its client will go through to create and implement the solution. Igloo's excellent customer service made dealing with obstacles easier, said O'Keefe. Although Igloo delivered the product successfully, the software company's product manager still maintains contact with Verafin to make sure everything is working properly.

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