Many data strategies end up as a report that no one uses. Not with us. We advise you on the direction and foundation of your data and analytics environment, then help you make it work in practice. Sometimes that means a development project, sometimes training, and sometimes simply making the right choice at the right time.
A lot of data advice comes from people who are no longer involved when it is time to build. The strategy looks good on paper, but then runs into the reality of your data, systems, and team.
We do things differently. We advise you on the direction to take with data and analytics, and stay involved when it is time to turn that direction into something that works. That keeps our advice honest, because we know what it takes to put it into practice. We have seen what works—and what only works on a slide.
That also means we will tell you when the answer is smaller than you expected. Sometimes you do not need a project, but one good decision. Or a team that better understands what it is doing. We would rather tell you that than sell you something you do not need.
Most data and analytics decisions come down to three questions: Where do you want to go, what will you build on, and how do you stay in control as the environment changes? Our advice often centers on these three points.
Where do you want to go with data and analytics, and what will it take to get there? We help you translate that into a roadmap you can actually follow, including the choices and trade-offs involved. Because we know what it costs to build, the plan stays realistic. No wish list that ignores the price tag.
On-premises, cloud, or hybrid. Which tools and structure should you choose, and what can scale as your organization grows? And are your data, definitions, and governance reliable enough for analytics and AI? The choices you make here determine whether your environment will still work three years from now or gradually turn into something no one wants to touch. We help you choose a foundation that fits where you want to go, not whatever the market is shouting about the loudest at the time.
Even when your environment is up and running or a concrete plan is already in place, an independent perspective can be valuable. Are the choices you made still the right ones? Are the costs, risks and implications sufficiently clear? With a second opinion, we assess your environment, architecture or proposal and clarify what is working well, where adjustments are needed and which choices you can confidently move forward with.
We usually start with a conversation, not a proposal. Before we say anything about how to get there, we first want to understand where you are and where you want to go. No preparation needed—just bring your questions.
What happens next depends on what you actually need. Sometimes the advice is enough for you to move forward on your own. Sometimes we run a short proof of concept to test an idea using your own data before anyone commits to a larger project. And sometimes the advice leads to an implementation, development project or team training, with the same people who provided the advice staying involved.
The order stays the same: think first, then act. That makes the advice worth acting on.
DPG came to us with a clear question. Its advertisers were used to the dashboards provided by Meta and Google and expected the same level from DPG. At the time, reports were still compiled manually in PowerPoint and only provided on request.
We advised DPG on what was needed to close that gap, built a working mock-up to test the concept and then developed it into the final solution. The result is a dynamic Qlik-based portal covering tens of thousands of campaigns, where customers can track their own performance instead of waiting for a report.
The advice came first. The development followed from it. That order was precisely what made it successful.
Hundreds of hours freed up each month for customer advisory work
Nature’s Pride started with a strategic choice, not a technical one: moving from Qlik to Power BI without rebuilding everything from scratch. We advised on the approach and then laid the TimeXtender foundation that made it possible. The environment now powers near-real-time reporting across the organization, with data refreshed every five minutes.
Read the Nature’s Pride case study
Medux needed a single version of the truth across five brands before anything could be built on top of it. That is a governance question first and a technical one second. We helped establish the foundation using Azure SQL and TimeXtender, with Qlik Sense on top. This brought together data that had not previously been connected.
Read the Medux case study
That is usually a good reason to talk. A short conversation is often enough to determine whether there is something worth exploring further and which direction makes sense. No preparation needed—just bring your questions.
Good strategic advice takes more than knowledge of technology. You need to understand how an organization operates, where value is created, what data is available, and which choices are feasible in practice. That context differs by industry.
Retail involves different considerations than floriculture. An occupational health service focuses on different processes and definitions than a media company or logistics service provider. Because we understand that context, we do not have to start from scratch in every engagement to learn how your organization works. We can distinguish more quickly between what sounds important and what truly makes a difference in practice.
That is often exactly why organizations come to us. A brief conversation is usually enough to turn a vague sense that something needs to change into a clearer picture of what is worth tackling first. You don’t need a fully developed plan to get started.
No. Sometimes the advice is all you need, and your own team can take it from there. Sometimes the answer is training or one sound decision. We would rather tell you that than talk you into a project you don’t need. If an implementation does make sense, we will say so and explain why. And you are free to have someone else handle it.
It starts with a conversation, and that costs nothing. If there is a reason to explore further, the next step is usually small and clearly defined. Often, that means a short proof of concept rather than launching a major project right away. This lets you find out whether it is worthwhile before spending a lot.
Strategic advice is not only for organizations with a large data team. It is about the decision ahead of you, not the size of your company. The same questions—where are you going, what will you build on, and how will you stay in control—are just as relevant with five people as they are with five hundred.
Maybe not, and if so, we will tell you. But it is easier to trust a plan when someone who has built these kinds of environments before has tested its feasibility. We can review your chosen direction, point out what is likely to hold up and what often goes wrong in practice, before you find out after the budget has already been spent.
Strategic advice is about direction and the decisions behind it: where are you going, what will you build on, and how will you stay in control? Consultancy is where we build it. In practice, the two often overlap, with the advice usually coming first.
More than you might think. Good results with AI require sound data, governance, and foundations. In our experience, the advice that prepares you for AI is the same advice that makes your analytics environment reliable.
Whether something’s still unclear or you’re ready to take the next step, Barry and Eric are happy to talk it through. Email us, call us, or book a meeting at a time that works for you.
From advice to implementation: Let our consultants put the plan into action.
Support and management: Keep your environment reliable and manageable.