RedefineThe Power of Data-Driven Decision-Making with Redefine’s Data Lake
Our client, Hyde Housing, a large housing association in the UK, started their digital transformation journey over 2 years ago. Their strategic objectives for the transformation are to harmonise a large number of systems that are not integrated to provide better access to real-time data and drive more data-led decision-making across the organisation. We were engaged from the start with the mission to create a modern data lake as a single source of truth, a place where the business can gather data and extract meaningful insights.
The client encountered challenges in obtaining useful insights from their data, which hindered their ability to make informed strategic decisions. They faced issues with inaccurate reporting and inconsistencies in data points viewed and reported at different times, resulting in a loss of confidence. They knew they lacked the skills on the ground to progress this work and this is where we were able to help.
To begin, we delved into Hyde’s goals and aspirations and conducted a comprehensive evaluation of their existing systems to identify strengths and weaknesses. From there, we devised a strategy to construct a Data Integration Platform and Data Lake to facilitate data-driven insights.
A data-driven organisation must build on strong foundations. We prioritized establishing a solid foundation of data reliability, focusing on the three key pillars: data accuracy, completeness, and consistency. Our solution was designed to ensure that every data point’s lineage could be traced, allowing Hyde Housing to have complete confidence in their new Data Integration Platform and Data Lake.
We collaborated with Hyde to achieve their first major integration goals. Together, we successfully integrated three crucial SaaS solutions - Salesforce with My Customer 360, TMC for operations, and Workday. This achievement served as a springboard for further data accomplishments.
In the initial 3 months, we focused on building the cloud infrastructure while addressing business requirements. Our capable team developed the core foundation to increase the project velocity. We created a top-of-the-line CI/CD pipeline to enable seamless deployment to production, delivering automated updates to our microservices and cloud infrastructure without business downtime. Utilizing AWS Landing Zone, we established a multi-account environment following best practices for account separation and empowering teams with account management control while maintaining security through guardrails. This allowed for faster changes while adhering to SecOps rules.
As we built the integration platform, our team identified opportunities to enhance business workflows. We discovered that staff were manually updating critical systems using information from surveys and certificates, like gas and electricity, which was a time-consuming and error-prone process, especially with over 60,000 properties to manage.
To tackle this issue, we developed a fully automated Machine Learning pipeline to extract crucial data from documents and automatically update key systems. The result was significant efficiency gains, eliminating errors and freeing up staff members to focus on more high-value tasks.
Our team utilized the Data Lake to deliver critical business dashboards, providing the Hyde Housing with invaluable insights from their data that they never thought possible. The dashboards covered various aspects of the business, including Case Management, Arrears, and Service Charges. This marks only the beginning of their data journey, as the use of the Data Lake has generated interest throughout the company and shifted their mindset on how to approach data-driven questions.
By showcasing how the Data Lake can be utilized for preventive maintenance, IoT integration, stock optimization, and accurate customer satisfaction measurement, our scalable platform has propelled the housing association into the forefront of the digital world.
Starting a journey towards becoming data-driven can be challenging for any organization, with many unsure of where to begin. At Redefine, we’re dedicated to supporting organizations by providing an affordable and accessible pathway to getting started. Our expertise spans across various industries, and we help you avoid costly mistakes as you embark on this strategic priority. We don’t just provide insights, but we also equip you with the tools to continue generating insights on your own.
Hyde Housing is a prime example of how we help businesses achieve their goals. Through our partnership, they were able to undergo a successful digital transformation and implement a data lake, giving them a more comprehensive understanding of their business. With this new data-driven approach, they were able to identify key areas for improvement and optimize their operations, leading to increased efficiency and profitability.
Through the project, we facilitated the upskilling of their internal teams and aided the organization in acquiring skilled engineers to enhance their business. As a result, we equipped them with a sophisticated capability, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and novel business processes that have already yielded substantial returns on their investment.
Better for their teams and better for their customers.
Your Trusted Data Partners, Redefine #DataReimagined