How a cloud-first data platform provided a new – and better – approach to data integration and management.
Fintech startup Doxa Holdings International simplifies business flow among buyers, suppliers, and financiers by providing them with a collaborative trade platform for procurement, primarily in the construction industry. Founded in Singapore in 2019, the company serves global customers, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia.
Doxa’s platform, called Doxa Connex, is an enterprise cloud-based SaaS solution that leverages technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Cloud Computing and Microservices. It helps digitalize the workflow of buyers, suppliers, and financiers, facilitating end-to-end operational processes between suppliers, customers, and financial institutions, such as DBS, Maybank, UOB and OCBC.
New approach to data transfer
Prior to Doxa Connex, Doxa was using an outdated form of data transfer called Extract, Transform, Load (ETL). While the practice was still producing the desired results, the processes involved were costly. They were also highly manual and limited in scalability.
According to Edmund Ng, one of the founders of Doxa, the process back then was extremely taxing on his employees, and it consumed an unreasonable amount of time. Doxa once considered developing a technology middle layer, but it could have resulted in a more complicated and challenging problem than fixing it. Doxa needed a better solution.
“At that time, our approach to data transfer was simply unsustainable,” Edmund shared. “It was putting a huge strain on our employees and our resources, and we knew we needed to find a better solution.”
A cloud-first data platform
Doxa eventually discovered InterSystems, and IRIS, its comprehensive data platform, that is designed for the cloud environment, through the Singapore Fintech Association.
InterSystems IRIS consists of a multi-model transactional data management engine, an application development platform, an interoperability engine as well as an open analytics platform. IRIS offers a single database that allows for massive concurrent transactions, high-speed ingestion, and real-time analytics workloads.
With the IRIS platform, Doxa Connex facilitates data aggregation and sharing between clients, suppliers, and financial institutions more efficiently, with little manual input. The platform also helps bind the complex data in Doxa’s systems into one database, automates authentication, and helps manage complex security layers, especially for financial institutions.
Edmund added: “With InterSystems IRIS, we can confidently say that we have a solution that can handle the complexity of data aggregation and sharing that our clients demand. We have seen a significant improvement in the speed and efficiency of our processes, which has translated into better outcomes for our customers.”
Seamless movement of data through multiple systems
InterSystems IRIS now forms the ‘bloodstream’ of Doxa. It is the main component that is facilitating the delivery of the company’s objectives through its collaborative trade platform Doxa Connex. The embedded presence of IRIS in Doxa Connex has made the movement of data through multiple types of systems more efficient and uninterrupted.
Additionally, the ever-complex data movement and integration, especially across financial institutions, is now easier with IRIS working out the processes of complex data transfers in the background.
Edmund also said, “InterSystems IRIS is a user-friendly, collaborative tool that enables us to manage a growing number of integration partners and customers. IRIS is a perfect fit and has allowed us to deliver on all our objectives. Without it, we would not be where we are today.”
Finally, IRIS provides processing speed, allowing Edmund and his team peace of mind as they balance the needs of a growing number of clients. IRIS frees them up to focus on delivering on Doxa’s business objectives of providing effective procurement processes for its clients.
