Case Study.

Advised on data strategy, defined the Data Architecture, built the Azure Infrastructure, Data Integration (ETL), Data Warehouse & developed the Power BI Data Model.

Home Instead

Client
Home Instead
Company

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Industry
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What we did.

Home Instead is one of the UK’s leading Care Providers. They have over 230 franchises that use their world-class branding and infrastructure.

Home Instead knew that to keep growing and maintain standards, they needed to track data from the sites across the UK. Were there patterns they could leverage to make crucial decisions? Could they preempt upcoming problems before they emerge?

To answer these questions, they needed to capture all the relevant data and see it in one clear place.

To succeed, Home Instead had to collate the data from all the separate franchises to access the valuable insights. It would be a considerable undertaking to collect and aggregate it into a data model that would provide relevant insights.

1.

The Challenge

The problem was that their incumbent couldn’t do this cost-effectively or even in a time frame that would work. It was full of challenges:

  • Every change would have to go through a statement of works
  • There was no self-service BI capability
  • They had no report embedding capability

2.

Getting the Right Advice​

Home Instead didn’t have experience in data analytics and knew they needed help.

So, they reached out to The Data Crew for expert guidance. They had never used BI before and didn’t know what they needed. After speaking, they trusted our expertise to help diagnose their situation and needs.

We made recommendations for cost-effective insights into what was happening in their franchises. Then we went through a small proof of concept for a month with them using the Azure Data Platform & Power BI with around five franchises, proving the integration was possible. They could see some clear benefits.

Home Instead decided that they required a Data Platform. However, which one should they choose? After all, there are many options available in the market.

The business decided to run an RFC to select a vendor. The Data Crew helped feed into the RFC production, which was completed in-house and assisted as a trusted advisor throughout the comprehensive review of choosing a BI platform.

  • Information Builders
  • Tableau
  • Sisense
  • Microsoft Power BI
At the end of the review, they chose to go with Power BI running on Microsoft Azure Data Platform for two reasons:
  • It was the most cost-effective solution for what they needed
  • Unlike the many new platforms, Power BI has a large supportive community.
  • The Microsoft Data Platform could support large scale data integration and database technology with proximity to the Power BI service.
  • It supported integration and report embedding with 3rd party systems.

3.

Building the Data Warehouse

We embarked on the journey with Home Instead to bring data from all 230+ platforms from each franchise to Azure. It was a considerable challenge, with around 100+ tables per database, equating to > 23,000 data pipelines to load each evening.

The Data Crew delivered an initial proof of concept in a month and then provided the large implementation over six months.

Alongside the Data Integration challenges, we built out the Data Warehouse and produced a Data Model running on Azure Analysis Services, which connected Power BI to create the first reports and dashboards.

We supported Home Instead as they hired an experienced in-house data warehouse Technical Director and Data Analysts. He worked together with us to create an internal strategy for managing and supporting the data platform.

The Data Crew works alongside the internal team and supports the platform, the ETL, the data modelling, and the Data Warehouse’s technical aspects. Home Instead can lean on us for technical information and additional requirements whenever they need it.

4.

The Inhouse Data Team

Since the initial launch, the BI platform has gone from strength to strength; it is used daily by the business and sped up many tasks that previously took days to produce. Home Instead also uses a company portal to disseminate the Power BI information to their franchise network by directly embedding the visuals and dashboards, letting each site see data on performance around:
  • CAREGivers
  • Customers
  • Profitability
  • Comparisons between peer Franchises

… and much more.

The implementation has been a great success. Since starting the project, Home Instead has doubled in size as a company. They need to see crucial insights using their data platform, and it will continue to play a critical role in their ability to function and make decisions.

The Data Crew and Home Instead continue to work together on various projects, integrations and support for their platform.

5.

How To Get Help

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