How do I set up a modern cloud data warehouse?
How can data be made available to specialist departments at any time?
How do I design an automated reporting landscape for hundreds of employees?
How do I set up a modern cloud data warehouse?
How can data be made available to specialist departments at any time?
How do I design an automated reporting landscape for hundreds of employees?
International companies that operate in large markets with numerous heterogeneous product groups are true reporting heavyweights. However, in order to be able to access flexible reporting, solid cloud structures that can scale effortlessly are required, as well as a sophisticated rights system for creating reports.
The Swedish SKF Group is active in the development and production of bearings, seals and lubrication systems in more than 130 countries worldwide. A large global group with a broad portfolio, it is represented in a wide range of industries, from the smallest parts to huge systems. With our Snowflake database and the connected Power BI reporting, the company manages comprehensive sales controlling for more than 130 employees.
The project shows how flexible, cloud-based technologies can also be used to create large automated reporting landscapes - from the data warehouse to final use via Power BI dashboards. The motto was always to allow different components to interlock and reduce friction. The combination of components should result in a uniform and reliable system as a technology stack. The principle of "avoid silos, enable centralized access" applies not only to data storage. Sales controlling is also dependent on creating reports on a holistic basis and making them available to all relevant employees.
The sprint planning of the project took place at the end of each week with the creation of a joint backlog and the prioritization of stories and tasks. The first step was to start implementing the database. It is based on a data model that is open to potential extensions. The unlimited scalability of the Snowflake architecture in combination with the unbeatably stable performance of the technology were decisive factors in the decision.
A cloud-based Snowflake database forms the basis. Its major advantages include automatic scaling. It ensures an automatically adjusted ratio of required performance and costs incurred. In the intelligent data mart (partial copy of the existing warehouse), a staging area ensures data quality in order to prevent divergent quality between the warehouse and data mart.
Various Power BI training and coaching sessions were held to ensure that the KPIs to be analyzed in the dashboard were included in the data model at an early stage and planned in advance. This meant that new findings and ideas could be constantly incorporated into the planning within a feedback loop. taod Consultants trained the individual departments in the visualization and creation of dashboards.
The final cloud-based, automated sales controlling system is now used by around 150 SKF Germany employees to manage analyses and reports. At the heart of this is the KPI dashboard created in Power BI, which has significantly reduced the amount of work involved in reporting. It provides an intuitive representation that makes the current business much easier to interpret and understand.
Johannes Hüttner
Key Account Manager / SKF
From analysis to cloud implementation: we boost your data management strategically and technologically.
We'll show you how easy it is to manage your data with Snowflake.
Read our white paper to find out what opportunities the various cloud technologies offer and what a suitable setup can look like.