Case Studies - Business intelligence

Survey Results Portal

Build a web portal that allows a customer survey provider company to make results of their surveys available to their clients with minimal overhead.

Logistics

Team: Local PM and BA, plus cross-functional team of 5 offshore

Delivery using iterative releases

Challenge

Implemented using SQL Server, SSIS, SSRS

Results

Resulting web portal enabled clients to get survey results faster than possible before, build reports along different dimensions, and even drill down to verbatim detail.

Initial prototype was delivered in 1 month and entire project was completed 4 months

Implemented using MS SQL Server, SSIS, SSAS, ASP.Net

Reporting portal for grocery supply chain

Build web portal for managing large data files and tables extracted from grocery point of sale and inventory systems for the purpose of last mile supply chain forecasting. Additionally, provide dashboard and reports that displays the state of the data warehouse and results of the forecasting application.

Logistics

Team of 4 at start, ramping up to 8 at peak

Delivery using modified scrum agile methodology

Used Netezza for Data Warehouse platform

Challenge

Implement project with 1 month deadline to proof of concept

Netezza does not yet have as many tuning and ETL tools

Needed to synchronize relational data model in Netezza to dimensional data model in SQL Server

Results

Initial proof of concept delivered in 1 month, with first release available in just 3 months

Implemented on Netezza data warehouse appliance using ASP.Net, DotNetNuke, SQL Server, SSIS (Integration Services), SSAS (Analysis Services), SSRS (Reporting Services), and IBM Cognos BI

Portal was implemented in a modular way to enable customization of features for each customer and designed for usability based on customer feedback.

Results reporting was built using a dimensional data mart

Financial BI solution for healthcare provider

Build application to enable analysis of financial data by both power users and novices

Logistics

Starting team of 3 onshore & offshore, ultimately ramped up to 8 at peak

Delivered using agile methodology

Specifications were jointly created with client’s business analysts

Initial focus was on delivery of prototype delivery as quickly as possible

Challenge

Prototype needed to be ready quickly

Heterogeneous data sources

Complex logic that wasn’t documented

Results

Initial prototype delivered on time, receiving praise from client

Through use of agile methodology, features delivered were those of most relevance to client – some were added to scope, while other were removed

Solution enabled analytics using KPI dashboards, data grid views and report exports

Implemented on Oracle & SQL Server DBMS, using SSIS for ETL, SSAS for OLAP, ASP.Net, C#, Visual Basic

ETL tool comparison lab

Set up sever to compare side by side the capabilities and productivity of ETL tools Informatica PowerCenter, MS SQL Server Integration Services, Pentaho Kettle

Logistics

Set up of 3 separate datasets to measure different aspects of ETL, including high volume processing, homogeneous vs. heterogeneous data, transformations

Results published on team wiki and used for business development

Challenge

Test cases included new DBMS platforms, like Vertica

Results

Findings used as input for estimation on another projects

Qualitative and quantitative measures of developer productivity reported to client

ETL portal for automotive parts

Build web portal for managing ETL loads for a cost management analytics platform for automotive parts supply chain

Logistics

Team: PM/BA, 2 Dev, 1 QA

Development in 3-week iterations

Challenge

Ability to process multiple source data file formats (including XML or CSV)

Implement complex transformation rules based on data file content

Need to incorporate automated data file problem detection and reload attempts

Manage upgrade to latest version of SSIS (Integration Services) during portal implementation

Results

Proof of concept delivered in 6 weeks and full project completed in 8 months

Delivered web portal capable of managing source data for ETL loads through multiple FTP servers and using XML or CSV file format

Used Oracle and SQL Server DBMS, SSIS (SQL Server Integration Services), ASP.Net and C#

Internet banking middleware

Develop a web-solution which enables an internet-banking business by integrating ten disjoined applications and systems.

Logistics

Team composition: 1 PM/Scrum Master, 1 BA, 1 Architect, 9 developers, 1 DBA, 2 QA

Project methodology was a cross between RUP and agile

Development employed continuous integration

Challenge

Had to integrate wide range of platforms, including different database systems, batch applications, real-time data collectors, web-services and legacy mainframe.

Lack of requirements and documentation

Needed to process at least 1GB of collected data per day

Ensure end users didn’t notice slower response time (>200 ms) even during heavy loads

Abide by strict security limitations during development

Fraud detection alerts must be received <5 seconds after occurrence

Results

Achieved performance & SLA requirements

Usability well received by client and their customers

Highly modular and loosely coupled architecture designed for extensibility

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My experience with Sphere has been excellent. The development team we are working with is producing some amazing work, communicating well, and finishing tasks fast. They are also able to anticipate problems and plan accordingly, which keeps me from having to constantly worry about the project. The rest of the Sphere management team has been fantastic to work with as well, and I know the project manager or COO is always available if needed. Additionally, I've referred several of my friends in need of development work because I'm confident that Sphere can deliver whatever they need.

Mike Colella, PPC Labs www.ppclabs.com