CLAUDIO – ENER2CROWD’S EXPERIENCE
How to manage the automation of a very complex database
Today we have the pleasure of hosting the story of a beautiful Italian reality on our blog. It’s called Ener2crowd and it’s a startup founded by 4 Italian engineers.
Ener2Crowd is a Peer to Peer Lending platform (loan from individuals) that aims to attract capital to finance projects that bring benefits to the environment.
Let’s find out together with Paolo Alberico (Head of Investment Operations and Database Management of Ener2Crowd) what the problems were prior to Claudio’s adoption.
How did you manage your workflow before Claudio?
It was utterly manual. We needed to download enormous Excel files from our databases and filter them according to specific characteristics related to the activity we had to carry out (for instance, to send an email to a certain category of users).
Moreover, we often had to do real-time updates. We had to monitor certain sections of the platform more than once a day for notifications that the system did not record.
Not only we had to have a certain proficiency with Excel – since data gathering and statistical calculations were all processed on Excel – but we also constantly risked making mistakes due to the repetitiveness of our operations and the quantity of records and data we manage.
What are the challenges you had to face?
First of all, we had to redo all the data extraction process from the database every time. Hence, we lost so much time redoing the same procedures all over again, with no possibilities to make changes, not even partial alterations, due to the great number of data additions in a short period of time (like new registered users or new daily activities).
The risk of mistakes or omissions was really high and hard to foresee
We also had to have a good memory since we needed to remember all the necessary steps to match the various tabs of the database and to get the data we needed. The risk of mistakes or omissions was really high and hard to foresee.
As of real-time updates, we could only hope that they didn’t happen at weird times. We had to continuously check certain sections to implement the necessary changes.
What are the activities you automate today?
The main flow we use more often is the one that allows us to fish some non-sensitive information straight from the database of our customers. These are collected with specific criteria and are entered in an external CRM to manage email marketing activities (here, security is a priority since we’re talking about investments).
Another flow allows us to allocate in real-time bonuses to registered users for future investing campaigns (with entries in a wishlist according to a certain identified source or action). This way, we didn’t have to create a wishlist, we didn’t risk making any mistakes and it’s quicker than writing the list manually.
Recently, we designed a flow which allows us to issue a larger number of invoices for different customers at the same time.
What are the benefits of Claudio?
it is possible to get aggregated data from the various databases for things we didn’t consider before – due to the lack of time or the large quantity of data to manage
Definitely the reduction of the workload needed to carry out the activities I mentioned earlier.
The speed of task completion is another great advantage of Claudio’s automation.
Being incredibly flexible, moreover, it is possible to get aggregated data from the various databases for things we didn’t consider before – due to the lack of time or the large quantity of data to manage.
It is also rather fun to use and to find out how many things you can use it for.
Paolo, what are your final considerations on your experience?
We are incredibly satisfied with the new opportunities brought by Claudio.
It allows us to delete repetitive tasks and to focus our attention on activities with greater added value to our company.
It’s always great to talk with the customer support, the team is always kind, and to constantly learn new functions to simplify the management of what looked like an inevitable waste of time for the company before.
Paolo Alberico Fiori – Investment Operation and Database Manager at Ener2Crowd.
