Finance on-brand

A Digital Fishies case study

At a glance

Client
A software company whose customers are large financial institutions
Since
January 2016
Our role
Responsible for all development, alongside servers, documentation and on-site meetings
Challenge
Helping thousands of employees create documents and presentations that stay on-brand and use approved content
Result
A multilingual platform, tailored to each institution and delivered through a website and a Microsoft Office add-in

We have worked with this client since January 2016. Their customers are large financial organisations whose environments range from Internet Explorer 9 browsers to internal Windows 2008 servers and newer.

The product brings pre-approved, on-brand Microsoft Office documents and images together in one place. Users browse, collate and download these components to create a single document (Word, PowerPoint or PDF), with tags replaced by live data. Content is delivered through a website and a custom Office add-in, and each deployment is multilingual and tailored to the client, serving thousands of users across several countries.

We were first asked to create a responsive version of the main product, and were then entrusted with every aspect of its development. Highlights include:

  • A responsive version of the main product.
  • A clear separation of concerns throughout the code base.
  • Web API controllers in place of the original single Web Forms page.
  • LINQ, first through EDMX and now Entity Framework, in place of hard-coded SQL queries.
  • Aspose in place of the Open XML SDK for document processing.
  • The VBA Office add-ins rewritten in C# with VSTO.
  • Excel data used to generate tables and charts within the downloaded components.

We also look after the demonstration Windows Server 2019 environment, write installation guides and deployment notes, document client requirements and attend on-site meetings. In addition, we developed a VSTO Office add-in that brings images from Adobe Experience Manager into presentations through an internal web service.

What does Finance on-brand do?

It keeps approved, on-brand Office documents and images in one place. Users choose the content they need and download it as a single Word, PowerPoint or PDF file, with tags automatically filled in with live data.

Who uses the Finance on-brand platform?

Thousands of employees at large financial institutions in several countries. Each institution has its own tailored, multilingual version.

How has the platform been modernised?

We made it responsive and gave the code a clear structure. A single Web Forms page became a set of Web API controllers, hard-coded SQL was replaced with LINQ (first through EDMX, now Entity Framework), Aspose replaced the Open XML SDK for document processing, and the VBA Office add-ins were rewritten in C# with VSTO.

How does Finance on-brand work with Microsoft Office?

Through a custom Office add-in written in C# with VSTO. Excel data can become tables and charts in the downloaded files, and a separate add-in brings images from Adobe Experience Manager into presentations through an internal web service.