How

After assessing the problem, it was hypothesized that the root cause was that the existing business intelligence and data platform was not meeting business needs.

It had poor performance, was unreliable, had inconsistent information, missing information, was unscalable, and could not be expanded to allow for new tools and techniques, including user-driven analytics AI/ML.

The team completed a comprehensive fact-based assessment of the strategic goals, processes, technology assets, and resources.

A recommendations report was presented that included a comprehensive business case, roadmap, and a scalable Proof of Concept (PoC) for a cloud-based data-lake approach that included the introduction of several real-time interfaces with suppliers and vendors, market information, traditional operating data, new analytics, and AI/ ML tools.

The PoC demonstrated how decision-making and business processes could be automated and optimized to focus on higher value-added functions to drive new sales, reduce costs, and provide better service vs. the current state of wrestling with company data.

Results

The company raced forward with an ROI-based strategy and plan built on the PoC to transform how the business utilized information assets. The solution created a stable, reliable, scalable, secure organization-wide platform that modernized how the business was planned, managed, and executed in almost every operating area. Focused change management efforts helped the company maximize adoption and investment value.