Use of OmniFi
Sampo has used OmniFi for more than a decade to manage reporting, testing, and data importing across its core investment and treasury platforms. In late 2018, the group expanded its use to include the full OmniFi suite, with OmniFi Web enabling automated report scheduling and OmniFi 7.1 supporting advanced workflow and process automation.

OmniFi has become central to Sampo’s automation journey—streamlining reporting, front-to-back processes, and data management tasks, while supporting continuous system and business development. Few organizations have explored OmniFi’s potential as extensively as Sampo, developing both semi- and fully automated workflows that significantly increase efficiency.

“The tools we’ve built with OmniFi have had a huge impact on the efficiency of our investment processes.”
— Anita Halen, System Manager, Investment Operations, Sampo plc

Report automation and scheduling
Sampo has implemented multiple automation initiatives using OmniFi, including stock-ownership (flagging) reporting, Solvency II reporting, and middle-office reporting.

Before implementing OmniFi Web, the daily flagging report could take nearly an hour to run and required manual preparation for distribution. “This is a key report, as it flags when group ownership of a particular stock exceeds set thresholds,” explains Halen. “It was the first report we automated with OmniFi’s scheduler. It now runs unattended each afternoon and is automatically distributed to recipients by email.”

Solvency II reporting previously required more than 20 reports with varying parameters. “Running this process on OmniFi Web is a huge improvement,” says Halen. “While not fully automated due to timing dependencies, the reports now execute in parallel rather than consecutively.”

In 2019, Sampo began automating middle-office reporting—a major project that continues to enhance operational efficiency across teams.

Process automation with OmniFi
Sampo has embraced OmniFi’s capability for business users to create tools and routines independently, driving innovation without heavy reliance on IT.

Among several automation tools developed internally, some remain semi-automated due to manual data inputs from third-party sources. One example is a tool that updates transaction details in the loan portfolio, such as interest rates, with minimal user intervention. Another routine automatically recalculates transactions requiring daily cash-flow fixings.

Sampo also developed an OmniFi-based solution to improve pricing and reconciliation of private-equity transactions through automated routines between its core systems and external platforms.

Portfolio managers now use OmniFi to import block trades more efficiently—traditionally a time-consuming task involving multiple accounts and portfolios. Instead of capturing deals manually, transactions are added into OmniFi and imported automatically, with calculations completed in Excel before posting. Daily liquidity reporting is now fully automated via OmniFi Web, aggregating data from multiple sources and sending results directly to liquidity managers’ inboxes—without human intervention.

Data management and testing
Sampo has used OmniFi to automate critical data-management activities. Tasks that once required manual updates of thousands of codes in the core system can now be completed in just a few hours using semi-automated OmniFi tools.

A long-standing month-end data-quality report—used to identify coding inconsistencies and discrepancies—is now fully automated, including report distribution, thanks to OmniFi Web.

Like many SkySparc clients, Sampo has leveraged OmniFi to automate testing for nearly a decade. During system upgrades, OmniFi compares and reconciles data and test results between reference and upgraded environments, ensuring consistency across systems. The same approach applies to hot-fix testing, albeit at lower data volumes.

“We don’t necessarily know where we will find them, but we are always looking for new opportunities.”
— Anita Halen, System Manager, Investment Operations, Sampo plc

Today’s benefits, tomorrow’s horizons
Automation through OmniFi has enabled Sampo to minimize manual, repetitive tasks while improving data accuracy and reliability. “OmniFi ensures error-free data collection and transfer between systems,” says Halen. “It’s important that end-users can build automation tools themselves. We find OmniFi very easy to use, with little need for IT involvement—and we always receive highly responsive support from SkySparc.”

Looking ahead, Sampo plans to further expand automation by scheduling more reports through OmniFi Web and developing additional user-built tools. The group is also exploring opportunities to connect OmniFi with other systems to fully automate processes that are currently semi-automated.

Sampo intends to continue leveraging OmniFi’s growing integration, interfacing, and reconciliation capabilities, as well as its enhanced extensibility—enabling flexible data exchange via web-service APIs and empowering end-users to develop a wider range of automated workflows.

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