We often talk about the advantages to global companies collaborating with local partners. SAS increasingly works with partners because of the benefits of have access to intelligence about local conditions, customers and marketplaces, especially in emerging markets. However, much less is talked about the benefits to local partners of teaming up with a particular global vendor, such as SAS, and the importance of close collaboration.
Talking the right language
Rainier Widjaja is a Director at id/x Partners, a SAS partner in Indonesia. id/x partners specialize in financial technology (Fintech) and regulatory technology (Regtech) solutions in the financial services sector. The company’s other co-founders both worked in the banking sector, so they have contacts and expertise there. Rainier believes that this provides the company with a significant advantage in financial services.
“One of our key opportunities is that we are able to talk the right language to executives in the financial services industries. The expertise of the other co-founders means that we can talk as business users, instead of being merely technology implementers, and therefore have a role as a consultant. We can give a recommendation about the best models or the best solution to meet their needs.”
Rainier adds that this has been important in a number of projects.
“We have done several projects in financial services where our expertise has been significant. These have included a loan origination system and decision engine, and a couple of projects in the ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) area.”
However, Rainier is also clear that is not id/x partners’ only advantage. He believes that the strong partnership with SAS is also crucial—but not simply because of SAS’s reputation or the quality of the software.
“One other thing that I think has been crucial in the last two years, since we’ve been partnering with SAS, is the strong collaboration between SAS as a principal and us as partners. I believe—and actually this is borne out by results—that when we are collaborating, we are a lot stronger than a lot of competitors. For example, on anti-financial crime advisory, when we collaborate with SAS, we are competing with the regional players. As local partners with support from SAS, we have managed to bid successfully for an advisory project. We have had a formal e-mail from the clients to say how much they appreciate the collaboration between SAS and id/x.”
He adds that this is not the only example where this has happened. He believes that the strong and visible collaboration with SAS is one of the main reasons why id/x partners has become a market leader with the main financial services companies in Indonesia.
“I think without that collaboration, we would not have become the market leaders in Indonesia for the IFRS17. A lot of customers are asking for a commitment from the principal, and I think SAS has shown that commitment in the last two years. This is comforting to clients and it brings more business to partners as well.”
The importance of data quality
Rainier comments that there is an interesting aspect of customers’ buying decisions that has surfaced in recent years—and where SAS expertise again really matters.
“If we go back five to seven years, customers were all looking for business intelligence solutions, data warehouses and so on. However, in the last three years, in Indonesia especially, they’re looking more for ways to secure better data quality, through data management solutions. They understand that business intelligence tools without data—well, anything without data, really—is garbage. You need the data quality to make good decisions, and for digital transformation.”
Rainier is also clear that good data is the key to detecting and preventing fraud, and that this is a vital area for the financial services industry.
“You need good quality data to analyses and prevent financial crime. Banks are using very different systems to detect and prevent fraud, and for anti-money laundering. There is huge focus on how to increase real-time detection of money laundering and other financial crimes. We highlight this to our customers as a real strength of our partnership with SAS, and once again, that’s where the commitment from the principal is important. We have to go beyond the product brochure, and demonstrate the important collaboration between principal and partner, and also highlight that we have every aspect covered: the technology is good, but we will also support implementation together.”
Discover more about how they’re making a difference in the industry with SAS—visit ID/X’s website to explore how the power of AI can transform your business processes!
