In corporate intelligence, organisations require diverse tools to manage risk, ensure compliance, and make strategic decisions. The choice isn’t always between good vs bad business intelligence software; rather, it’s about finding the solution that matches your operational rhythm, resource capacity, and project complexity.
Handshakes, a leading data analytics company in Singapore, offers two distinct yet powerful approaches to intelligence gathering: the self-service Handshakes APP and the expert-driven Handshakes XPERT. Understanding the distinct strengths of both products is key to selecting the ideal solution for your due diligence, vendor screening, and business intelligence requirements.
Handshakes APP: Your Self-Service Powerhouse
The Handshakes APP is designed as a comprehensive business intelligence platform that empowers in-house teams with speed, autonomy, and direct access to authoritative corporate data. It transforms complex investigative work into a visual, on-demand process.
Here are the key features:
- Proprietary mapping capabilities: This award-winning feature instantly visualises intricate corporate relationships and hidden beneficial ownership structures. The APP provides multiple map types, including Radial Map, Interconnection Map, Legal Beneficial Ownership (LBO) Map, and Investee Companies Map.
- Direct data access: Provides real-time access to corporate data from official, trusted sources, including company registries and capital markets data. This covers major Asian markets: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and China.
- Integrated reporting: Users can instantly generate key reports directly within the platform for immediate assessment and documentation. These include Entity Profile Reports, financial reports (for stability checks), and the RED list report (for regulatory and enforcement exposure).
- Procurement check: This efficient, cost-effective solution is ideal for fast conflicts-of-interest checks. It allows users to bulk upload a list of up to 50 employee names for instant cross-checking against registry records, verifying declarations, and surfacing hidden staff-vendor connections.
- High-volume efficiency: Features such as Bulk Entity & Batch Request streamline operations by enabling users to seamlessly download multiple business file reports at once, improving productivity for high-volume due diligence checks.
- Proactive monitoring (alerts): Users can set private email alerts for specific entities and receive automatic notifications whenever their data is updated, ensuring continuous risk mitigation.
The Handshakes APP is ideal for organisations with dedicated in-house due diligence teams, compliance officers, internal audit departments, and analysts. Its primary benefits include:
- Speed and control: Investigations can be initiated and controlled immediately, offering quick results for high-frequency checks.
- Cost-effectiveness: The subscription model offers a highly cost-effective solution for organisations requiring regular, high-volume access to data and mapping analysis.
Handshakes XPERT: Your Expert-Driven Service
Handshakes XPERT is the consulting arm, offering a personalised, done-for-you service for complex or urgent business intelligence gathering. It serves as a scalable extension of your internal risk management team, delivering high-stakes analysis without requiring internal bandwidth.
Among the key features of this platform are:
- Customised research: Provides tailored due diligence and company background check services based entirely on specific client needs.
- Expert analysis: Leveraging a team of Singapore-based analysts, XPERT provides reliable intelligence from trusted sources, including unique data on private companies in Singapore and Malaysia, as well as capital markets.
- Done-for-you service: This solution is ideal for high-volume vendor screening or for projects that require deep dives and tailored data extraction.
- Sample deliverables: Offers detailed, finished reports ready for executive review, such as the specialised Money Laundering Report and Vietnam Fraud Report. Deliverables are provided in the format that best suits your needs.
The Handshakes XPERT is the preferred solution for organisations with limited internal resources, those facing highly complex or sensitive investigations, or those requiring infrequent but in-depth reports (e.g., M&A teams, legal firms, external consultants). Its main benefits include:
- Access to specialised expertise: You can benefit from analyst-vetted intelligence and context, leveraging deep knowledge for critical projects.
- Reduced internal workload: Offloads the manual burden of data collection and synthesis, allowing internal teams to focus on strategic priorities.
- Guaranteed thoroughness: Ensures highly tailored, reliable insights for critical projects, delivering cost-efficient, guaranteed analytical quality.
Key Differences: Handshakes APP vs. XPERT
The choice between the two is ultimately driven by the nature of the task, not the quality of the data. Here’s a quick look at the key differences:
| Feature | Handshakes APP (Self-Service) | Handshakes XPERT (Expert Service) |
| Control & Customisation | High self-service control (user drives every search). | Expert-led customisation (analyst designs and executes the search). |
| Time Commitment | For quick, frequent, and routine checks. | For in-depth, project-based needs (longer turnaround). |
| Cost Model | Subscription-based (predictable monthly/annual fee). | Project-based (fee per scope or report). |
| Resource Utilisation | Empowers internal teams; requires time from internal analysts. | Offloads work; requires minimal internal resource time. |
| Scope | Broad, regular scanning; visualising complex networks. | Targeted, deep-dive analysis; bespoke data extraction. |
Making the Right Choice for Your Business
To determine the ideal tool, consider the following questions tailored to your business intelligence needs:
- Are you performing a quick daily company background check on a low-risk supplier, or a multi-layered, cross-border due diligence investigation on a potential acquisition target?
- Do you have dedicated analysts and sufficient internal time for self-service, or do you need to outsource the full research process to expert vendor screening services?
- Will you perform checks daily or weekly, or only for specific, large projects a few times a year?
- Do you need general access for mapping, or highly specific, aggregated private market data and personalised reports?
Another consideration is cost-effectiveness. The Handshakes APP offers high ROI for high-volume users, while Handshakes XPERT offers high ROI for reducing risk in critical, high-value projects.
Your Partner in Informed Decision-Making
Choosing between Handshakes APP and XPERT is a strategic one, but both tools draw from the same authoritative data foundation to enhance your organisation’s integrity. Whether you require the speed and control of a self-service platform for daily checks or the depth and expertise of an analytical team for complex investigations, Handshakes has a tailored fit.
The Handshakes APP is the definitive tool for empowering internal teams with high-volume, cost-effective, and visual intelligence. Conversely, Handshakes XPERT is your scalable resource for managing high-stakes, custom-scoped risks. Both solutions ensure you move beyond relying on fragmented data and embrace a unified approach to corporate intelligence and risk mitigation.
Contact Handshakes, a business intelligence agency, for a personalised consultation to determine the optimal solution that aligns with your operational cadence and risk profile.
