Global bank deploys Microsoft 365 data connectors for more secure, compliant use of popular apps

Bringing popular technologies to BTG Pactual staff and customers

Improved communications and collaboration inside of organizations, among staff, with external partners, and with customers is a key driver for digital transformation efforts. These days, staff and customers alike share an expectation that they’ll have access to the latest tools, apps, and services to work more efficiently and effectively, saving precious time and reducing friction in everyday transactions. In short, people want technology to make their lives as workers and as consumers easier and more productive.

The benefits of digital transformation aren’t lost on financial institutions, who find themselves looking for every advantage in a fiercely competitive industry. BTG Pactual (BTG), a major investment bank in Latin America, is continuously searching for innovative solutions that can improve internal work practices, enhance client communications, and make measurable contributions to the business bottom line.

Ricardo Alcofra, Director of IT International at BTG Pactual, saw some of the latest, most promising opportunities among consumer-oriented communications technologies. Born in the cloud, agile, free of conventional and historical design constraints, and above all else, wildly popular, those technologies seemed to offer huge potential when transitioned to the commercial environment. Alcofra recognized demand for social network–inspired features within the BTG workplace and among its customers. Current conditions had already blurred the distinction between working in offices and working remotely, and Alcofra considered whether it was time to remove the boundaries between key applications and services used in the workplace and those used socially and at home.

However, financial institutions are by necessity cautious in adopting new technology. They operate under local and global security and compliance regulations that involve strict government and industry mandates on how to manage, store, and transmit data. BTG had already invested in a Microsoft 365 infrastructure, taking advantage of built-in features that help meet those requirements, lessening the burden for BTG staff, and facilitating operations in multiple geographies without additional custom compliance efforts. But to adopt popular apps like WhatsApp for business use, BTG needed a way to securely manage that data.

Connecting with TeleMessage

BTG worked with TeleMessage, a member of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association, who provided connectors for WhatsApp communication, in addition to text messaging, multimedia messaging services and voice calling. “We were one of the early adopters of the data connector API,” remembers Gil Shapira, Vice President of Business Development at TeleMessage. “It was a collaborative effort, and we found very open-minded and committed people at Microsoft who were ready to work with us.”

Today, dozens of connectors are cataloged in the Microsoft 365 compliance center that provide data from the most popular devices, applications, and services. And the list continues to grow thanks to extensive APIs, an SDK, and built-in customization features.

Alcofra says the ability to readily extend its existing Microsoft 365 compliance processes with the TeleMessage WhatsApp data connector helps BTG keep close to its customers, working with them where and how they want to work. “We need to observe the trend of our customers, how they communicate, how they want to interact, and how agile they want that interaction to be,” he says. “With the TeleMessage connector, we quickly onboard WhatsApp as a preferred tool and can still keep the information centralized and compliant with our regulators.”

Within a month, Alcofra deployed the data connector and enabled WhatsApp usage with all data imported, tightly secured, monitored, and made available to BTG compliance administrators in Microsoft 365. In just five months, BTG operated more than 200 concurrent seats for the TeleMessage data connector. “Staff, customers, and internal and external people can use whatever devices they choose with the tools they prefer to conduct all their business-related communications and work the way they want while we remain highly compliant and secure,” says Alcofra.

Shapira says that Alcofra might be an early and innovative adopter, but he’s not alone in bringing these modern mobile communications technologies into the workplace. “We’ve observed an uptick in the overall adoption of these consumer channels within regulated entities,” he says. “For example, we’ve seen WhatsApp usage increase by almost 180 percent. We also get a lot of positive feedback from customers that have implemented mobile recording—both their employees and their customers love the ability to communicate safely over mobile and WhatsApp from a phone or a desktop. These technologies are considered innovative, responsive, and focused on improved customer service.” Adds Alcofra, “Overall customer satisfaction and the perception of value of our service and how quickly we adapted and implemented additional popular channels is outstanding. Feedback from our customers is that they recognize and appreciate how easy it is to keep in touch with us.”

The Microsoft 365 compliance ecosystem

Today, BTG has access to a broad range of native and partner data connectors that enable ever-increasing numbers of applications and services to pipe their data through powerful and comprehensive Microsoft 365 compliance solutions. The solutions include data and record retention, e-discovery, litigation hold, and communication compliance. They provide a single interface for imported data where staff can assess risk, govern and protect sensitive data, and effectively respond to regulatory requirements.

With Microsoft 365, BTG has an open, extensible compliance ecosystem. Using TeleMessage data connectors, the platform can ingest data from a wide range of applications and services, on mobile and desktop devices, hosted in diverse cloud and on-premises environments, and from multiple providers. After automatic importation into Microsoft 365, administrators can apply their retention, deletion, or record policies with Microsoft Information Governance. They can detect code-of-conduct violations and remediate communication risks, and with Microsoft 365 Advanced eDiscovery, they can reconstruct conversations and conduct investigations efficiently, all from a unified compliance platform. It’s simple and straightforward—administrators configure compliance policies just once and apply them to all data sources.

Alcofra describes this development as a game-changer. “For us to allow apps like WhatsApp, we needed to have them controlled and monitored by our compliance team,” he says. “We recognized a huge opportunity to consolidate and take advantage of the Microsoft infrastructure that we already use. It was a game-changer for us when we found out that there were already available data connectors to apply existing protection and compliance capabilities to data from Microsoft and others.”

Visit the Microsoft 365 compliance center for more information on archiving third-party data and Microsoft 365 compliance data connectors. Get further information on TeleMessage and the TeleMessage WhatsApp data connector. Request more information on becoming a data connector provider from dcfeedback@microsoft.com.