Fintech Service Provider

Challenges

A Fintech Service Provider, whose clients include large banks and insurance companies, needs to upgrade its document automation system to address the following challenges:

1. The challenges of local documents

The document automation system relies on third-party components to generate Excel or Word documents, making it difficult to support complex features such as data validation, charts, and pivot tables. Additionally, since the third-party components do not support server-side computation, complex calculations like formulas and pivot tables can only be processed on the client side, leaving all calculation rules exposed within the Excel file.

2. Lack of scalability

Users need to implement specific features in their documents, such as adding new chart types, freezing the last row, or disabling Excel’s built-in formulas. However, due to the limited extensibility of local Office documents, customization is inflexible, and the current system struggles to meet these needs.

3. Data security risks

The generated local Office files are sent via email, placing the data outside of centralized management. This unrestricted file sharing by users increases the risk of data leaks

4. Lack of collaboration

Local documents are accessible only to the current user for viewing and editing, hindering effective sharing and real-time collaboration. This leads to inefficiency in information sharing and team cooperation.

Solution

To move documents online, ensure data security, and enhance collaboration efficiency, the project manager discovered Univer on GitHub and decided to use it to upgrade their document automation system, successfully achieving the following:

1. Server-side computation

Univer is an isomorphic full-stack framework that allows developers to easily create snapshots of spreadsheets, docs, and slides on the server using the Univer API. These snapshots are a JSON data structure defined by Univer, capable of containing business data such as values, formulas, and related information. More importantly, Univer supports server-side computation, allowing formulas and pivot tables to be pre-calculated on the server, and only snapshots containing the final results are sent to the users. This prevents the exposure of calculation rules, enhancing both data security and workflow management for the company.

2. Great scalability

Univer is built with a modular plugin architecture, where each plugin corresponds to a specific function, supporting common features like formulas, charts, images, data validation, pivot tables, and conditional formatting. With over 100 plugins available, developers can extend existing functionalities, such as adding new chart types, customizing freeze rules, or hiding formula details. Developers can also easily create new plugins to meet the specific needs of the company.

3. Permission control

Univer can integrate with company’s permission management system to enforce strict access control over data snapshots, limiting actions such as sharing and copy-pasting. For example, in spreadsheets, users can precisely control viewing and editing permissions at the cell, worksheet, and workbook levels, and can even add watermarks to spreadsheets to meet stringent data security requirements.

4. Online collaboration

Univer supports multi-user collaborative editing and uses OT algorithms to resolve editing conflicts, allowing 200 people to edit a document simultaneously and 1,000 people to view it at the same time, fully meeting industry-leading standards. Users can simply share a URL link, enabling colleagues to participate in real-time document editing, data analysis, and chart creation, significantly improving the efficiency of information sharing and collaboration.

Client Feedback

Listen to what our customers say about us:

"Univer has rapidly improved our document automation system, completely solving the challenges we faced with complex document generation, lack of scalability, and data security issues. Univer truly is a powerful tool for boosting both efficiency and user satisfaction!"

Project Manager/Fintech Service Provider