Between loans, customers, payments, custom fields, rules, and all the dozens of other things you can save and configure in LMS, there's a lot of information to keep track of. Our built in reporting tools and the API are both great tools for pulling information, but many of our larger lenders want a faster way to get their info. Instead, you can go directly to the source: LoanPro's database. This read-only database is a replica of all the information throughout your entire tenant.

This article will explain the benefits of using the database, and some of the data options available to you. 

How databases work

When you save information in LMS, like creating a new loan or updating a custom form, that information gets saved in the database. And when you pull up a customer's page to check their references, the system draws that information up from the database. It’s not just an additional ledger of what's happening in the software, it is the ledger.

The database is the source of truth: Whether you manually check in the UI, perform a report, pull info with the API, or query the database directly, the information is all the same, and it all comes from the database. ("Query" is the verb developers use to mean search the database.)

But if information is the same, you might wonder why anyone would bother with the more technical process of querying the database. There's a few reasons:

• Speed – If you know how to perform a database query, it's the fastest way to get information. Imagine going to the library to find a specific book. Using our report tools is like waiting in line and asking the librarian for help—not as fast as pulling a book directly off the shelf, but easy. If you know a bit about how the library is organized, you could use the librarian's index cards (read: API) and find the book yourself, saving you some time. But the fastest option would be to just walk inside, go straight to the right shelf, and grab your book. It's hands-down the fastest way to get your information, but it requires that you know exactly which shelf the book is on, where the shelf is located, and where the book is on the shelf.
• Multiple tenants – Reports in LMS can search through all the loans in your tenant, but if you use multiple tenants, you're only getting part of the picture. Each tenant has its own database, but through the database, you can query multiple tenants and combine the information into a single source, getting a comprehensive view of your entire operation.
• Third-party data analysis – If you get analytics from software other than LoanPro, the database may be the best tool for getting data out of our system and into theirs.

Data lakes

If you already have a data lake sharing information from multiple systems, LoanPro can seamlessly integrate our data into your existing structure. We can format LoanPro data to match your own custom needs, and then send ongoing changes and updates in daily batches. This gives you the freedom and flexibility to ingest LoanPro’s data however best suits your needs.

Complementing that data lake, we can provision Redshift users connected to systems like Tableau, Power BI, or Domo. With these, you can build custom dashboards and direct queries to LoanPro’s structure of the  data lake, enabling you to draw real-time analytics and performance data without housing it all in your own systems.

Data on demand

If you want to use the database but don’t have a team of developers, you can get access through Data on Demand. LoanPro’s own data team will set up custom database queries for you, sending your data to a secure location on a recurring basis.

For more information on how it works and how to sign up, check out our Data on Demand article.