Waypoint Consulting

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of enterprise data governance of a healthcare organization. We have a provider side of six hospitals and 60 clinic sites. On the health insurance side we cover about 400,000 lives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WayPoint Consulting?

We needed help consolidating our data warehouses.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did data analysis for us for the first 10-11 months. The work was a fairly intensive investigation of the data and where it was being sourced from, as well as what sorts of transformations were happening as it moved from the source systems to the data warehouse. In the last 5 months, they assisted, internally, with migrating analytics that were sourcing data to the enterprise data platform.

What is the team composition?

We had two members from their team at any one time. They changed over time and were senior members of the Scrum teams.

How did you come to work with WayPoint Counsulting?

We worked with them before on a separate engagement. Based on their performance and work in that project, it was relatively easy to give them additional engagements.

How much have you invested with them?    

They're not the most expensive but not the least expensive either.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in October 2018 and ended in January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They provide very capable resources and a very flexible team. Traditionally we use them for more complex work. In this engagement, not only did we count on them to have strong skillsets but we also asked them to take on an informal leadership role of a subproject team. It worked exactly as we hoped it would.

How did WayPoint Counseling perform from a project management standpoint?

The program management layer has always been responsive to our needs. They're very communicative and never let us down. We communicated by phone, text, and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their personnel is always willing to go the extra mile, which is really helpful when you're faced with a difficult project and a tight deadline. They've never failed to come through for us in a clutch. Their work is outstanding and their resources tend to be motivated and engaged.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can't say that I do. Even when our account manager was leaving their position, they let us know quickly and offered an appropriate solution in a replacement. Where other companies have gotten tripped up, we've found that Waypoint is always hustling to make sure the situation is resolved as quickly and as favorably for the customer as possible.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don't hesitate, Waypoint is an outstanding partner, especially for organizations in the healthcare field. They've got a lot of great experience and they don't require a lot of ramp-ups.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of information technology at a securities litigation law firm in Pennsylvania.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waypoint Consulting?

A portion of our business is centered around monitoring security transactions for clients. We have custom apps designed by another vendor, but we needed a partner to make them more effective and expand their scope.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The amount of data we were reviewing was expanding greatly, and we needed an internal solution to help us to provide reporting for clients.

They were enhancing the .NET Framework that we used to build the initial apps as well as tweaking the SQL database and implementing QlikSense, an application for searching and filtering. In short, they refreshed the products and added increased functionality.

We have an ongoing support agreement with them for help as needed with all of our custom apps

What is the team composition?

We had about six individuals from their team assigned to the project. I was in touch with all team members, but they did have a project manager who made sure things stayed on track. That created a blended communications structure on both of our ends.

How did you come to work with Waypoint Consulting?

We were looking into using the QlikSense application within our .NET Framework. On the app’s site, they listed a group of partners, which we reviewed. Waypoint Consulting was local and had all the necessary capabilities.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial project cost about $40,000, and the ongoing support with eventually amount to about $200,000 each year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We starting working together in June 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They’ve been able to interact directly with non-technical stakeholders and uses of the app. In their conversations, they’ve effectively communicated technical aspects of the solution to non-technical people. Because of that understanding, we were able to implement changes to the app to expand its functionality, helping our services team perform their jobs more effectively. The internal apps have made it easy for our team to report to clients. 

How did Waypoint Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great project managers. We have a weekly meeting with their team to ensure that tasks are being completed smoothly and according to our timeline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very flexible in working in our environment. The communication between our teams has been wonderful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything off the top of my head.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As long as you work with them on their needs and goals, you’ll be successful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work with an investment controllership organization that sells life and mortgage insurance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waypoint Consulting?

Financial reporting standards require companies to develop methodologies to estimate expected credit losses for their asset investment portfolios. As we were implementing new financial instruments for US Gap and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), we hired Waypoint Consulting to develop a lasting solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Coding in Sequel, Waypoint Consulting developed a database and automated IT tool that allowed us to execute processes, generate results, and provide a solution that met set standards.

There is a large amount of historical credit loss data that needs to be brought into the process. Developing the processes to bring that data in and then generate the specific components of the expected credit loss calculation, and the actual calculation steps of bringing in relevant data on our asset positions, and then applying the credit loss calculation components to our data to then generate results.

Facilitating the project, they brought in subcontractors to ensure that specifications and policies were in accordance with the standards. Working with our internal IT team, they worked to develop the technical specifications and documentation.

What is the team composition?

Our project manager and director were our two key contacts. However, our IT team works closely alongside their developers as well.

How did you come to work with Waypoint Consulting?

When we started looking with service providers to partner with, Waypoint Consulting was able to demonstrate how they would meet our tight deadlines. Their ability to combine both their skill set and then also bring in the relevant subcontractors was very favorable. Compared to the alternatives, their price point was very good.

We felt really good about having them work alongside us throughout the process, and we were excited about being involved in their everyday development process. Having that intimate working relationship with them was a really big plus. Additionally, they are able to manage and maintain the database going forward.

How much have you invested with them?

The project itself has cost about $1.8 million, but we also spent about $250,000 on gap analysis.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2018, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’ve had independent parties assess the model, comparing the model’s result to theirs. The primary goal of these exercises has been to make sure they’re comfortable and agree with the approach. Both our internal risk team and an external firm have had successful results.

How did Waypoint Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

Our timeline is very tight, but they’ve consistently delivered results based on the schedule we provided. We communicate via phone, Slack, and JoinMe.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been helpful and hardworking throughout the project. When they see issues, they always take the lead, working through the challenge to help us find a solution and meet our goals. The workload has been challenging at times, but they're always willing to put in the extra effort, working little overtime to meet our deadlines.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

We could have conducted additional gap analysis, but their team remained flexible and was still able to make changes within the existing budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of business intelligence at Cadence Bank. My department supports information for our data mart that’s used for external SEC reporting (Securities and Exchange Commission) and regulatory reporting of our earnings, as well as financial information for research.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waypoint Consulting?

Our original challenge was to consolidate sourced financial information from disparate sources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have two core banking systems, that house our loans and deposit systems. It was tedious to try and manually pool that information from those sources individually. Waypoint joined us to gather requirements to design a data mart to combine all of the information from the two core systems to streamline our retrieval process with a system they developed from scratch using a SQL server.

They also helped us choose and customize QlikView, by developing initial apps focused on external reporting. Their main reporting contribution was the call report, which is a large regulatory report, where you have to report the health of different loan portfolios within your bank. We’ve also used them in other big regulatory projects, such as a bank merger, and a source system.

What is the team composition?

They provided business analysts, data architects, database administrators, BI developers, and business consultants.

How did you come to work with Waypoint Consulting?

Although Waypoint started working with our business before I came on board, I know that one of our team members had been impressed by a business development contact from their team. He showed very good knowledge in the finance sector, and had a deep understanding of what was needed to gather the requirements and build out the applications.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $1,000,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working on this project together in February 2016 and wrapped up in August 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The data mart has had a 50% impact on the ability to retrieve data and report on it. They consistently use their finance industry knowledge to help us manage our solutions. They have great, knowledgeable people and the delivery time is exactly what they promised it would be.

How did Waypoint Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent in managing our projects. With our larger engagements, we start with an in-person information gathering session. We also do a weekly status phone call meeting followed by emails. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

For their size, they’re pretty nimble. For them to be able to handle us, as a mid-sized bank, along with other customers, speaks volumes to their abilities.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to have knowledgeable personnel on your team before starting the engagement. It makes all the difference if you have people who can take the time to sit down and make sure that Waypoint is developing exactly what you need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the product manager for a consumer electronics manufacturer. During the engagement with Waypoint, I was the program manager for our business intelligence program.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waypoint Consulting?

We were looking to communize our reporting platform. The initial intent was to set up a number of data marks across the company and communize on the Cognos platform. During our initial engagements with Waypoint, they recommended doing an enterprise data warehouse.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The scope actually changed quite a bit. We implemented an enterprise data warehouse over the next few years. This involved setting up an entirely new platform and building an entirely new database and data warehouse. Waypoint developed it and they also maintain it. 

We not only communized the software, but we communized the data model. It’s a common information model that enables us to share and maintain accurate information across the business.

We used real-time reporting in a number of areas, which I think is fairly unique. Our business-critical functions rely on this. We can access information as recent as a few minutes old. The system alerts people about the information, which we can act on and run reports on.

We mostly used IBM products. It was Cognos on the frontend, DataStage as the ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) engine, and we used Netezza as the backend database.

What is the team composition?

We worked with data modelers, an ETL specialist, and a Cognos generalist. They provided expertise about the administration all the way down to report writing. There were a number of those roles throughout the project, but those were the three primary roles that were filled. 

How did you come to work with Waypoint Consulting?

They were a leading candidate when I took the role. It was between three or four companies, and the ultimate decision to stay with Waypoint was based on the quality of people they provided. They were also very responsive to any concerns that we had. It was a good relationship from that standpoint.

How much have you invested in them?

We ‘ve spent several million dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in 2015, and the work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

In general, we came in on time and budget with individual efforts. The platform has been successful. While that’s not a direct result of Waypoint, they were heavily involved.

Across the entire organization, we continue to expand the reach of that platform and it is now very much business-critical. There’s a whole lot of business sharing across the organization whereas before a lot of it was silent. 

We set it up very much like a self-service type of platform, which empowered quite a few people in the organization to explore the information we had. This resulted in some pretty pivotal capabilities in terms of our business reporting.

How did Waypoint Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

The team varied and the people varied over time. They were very responsive about finding the right fit for our organization. 

We ended up not using a lot of their project management after the initial few months because we took that on in-house. We were primarily on-site, and there wasn’t much remote work being done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness and willingness to work with us to find the right fit was impressive. We have an interesting culture and not just anyone is successful in our environment. They worked with us over time to find and place the right people to ensure we would be successful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve the project management aspect of it. They initially tried to do that remotely, but they weren’t responsive enough. This is why we took that internally. I think that’s more because of the nature of our culture.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of health information exchange development at a national hospital and provider organization. I’m responsible for our business intelligence activities,  including data warehousing, data marts, reporting, analytics, and the visualization layer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waypoint Consulting?

We needed additional capacity for our healthcare analytics and reporting capabilities. We contracted with Waypoint for additional help, and they’ve continued to be a partner of ours when we have more work than we can handle.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve had an ongoing relationship for a number of years now. They’ve provided data engineering and dashboard implementation, design, and execution. Additionally, they’ve provided education and training services for multiple projects.

They’ve worked with our team of business owners to define the requirements, considered various implementation options, and executed on the end product.

We’re a Microsoft shop, so we use a Microsoft SQL server, Microsoft ETL (extract, transform, and load) tools. They also provided consultative help with QlikView, QlikSense, N-Printing, and Qlik Geo Analytics. They’ve also helped other departments in using Tableau.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 10 different resources over the years. We’ve had engagement leads, technical architects, project managers, business intelligence developers, and data engineers.

How did you come to work with Waypoint Consulting?

We came across them given their experience in Qlik. We started with a small project, that had good success, and then have built on that experience over time.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

One of our more significant projects began in October 2018 and wrapped up in January 2019. We’ve had almost a dozen other engagements, and our collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’ve done a nice job of scoping our work on budget and on time, which is typically a challenge in our space. Obviously, we don’t get it exactly right, but our relationship is good because our scope frequently comes very close to the original plan. That’s a testament to the level of  thought, deliberation and execution both parties put int our projects.

How did Waypoint Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good with meeting deadlines and following project compliance. We’re usually in alignment and we appreciate the reciprocity aspect in terms of doing projects in a best practices way.

We use Jira and Confluence mainly for project management and information sharing. For instantaneous communication, we lean more towards SMS and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the nice things about our relationship is that we’ve gotten to know one another; going to the next engagement is much easier now, because they understand our business, our capabilities, and the way we like to do things. Waypoint is willing and able to do things our way efficiently and effectively. Time after time, we’ve appreciated that they got to know us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be honest. For example, in some cases Waypoint recommended that they do a deeper exploration of our business objectives, which we didn’t want. We know what we’re doing and what we want to achieve.

Waypoint does a nice job of listening, sharing their recommendations, and accommodating customer needs. It’s up to the client to listen and be thoughtful with what they ask. They'll always be responsive and share their expertise, which is why we’re still partnering with them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m the director of master data governance for Abbott Rapid Diagnostics. We’re involved in pharmaceutical and medical products across the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Waypoint Consulting? 

We needed help addressing a global product reporting database and dashboards. We wanted to optimize the database by putting in more validation and controls, as well as cleaning up the submission process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Waypoint Consulting’s scope was to build out a global product data mart. They created a data mart / database layer in order to automate processes that were being done manually. They took information from several manual submission processes or ERP data sources and built a relational data mart. Waypoint Consulting created the data model and the rules and the logic. Key features included aggregating data from disparate sources and using those roles or logic so it can easily be positioned into a fact table and then pushed to dashboards or other visualization tools. 

They developed applications to measure data quality and enable currency flexing and currency comparisons. The currency flexing took a rate table from a certain market or country and flexed it from local currency to a specific currency. Waypoint Consulting also stood up a product master/material master that cleansed and aggregated certain attributes through the addition of a mapping table. For example, geography mapping that says this country is in these regions or these clusters in order to measure certain markets. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with around five members of their team, including an account representative, a project manager, a lead database/data model designer, and two developers.

How did you come to work with Waypoint Consulting? 

We'd used them in the past from our Qlik View application modeling and dashboards. We've also used them to supplement staff resources for certain data and analytic skillsets. As they’re a smaller company, we’ve found them to be more flexible and adaptable than large firms. They're always willing to work with us and their expertise is top-notch. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $130,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

The project took place from July–September 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Waypoint Consulting was able to take 4–5 manual processes and six data models or and fuse them into one application. It’s now a much more efficient single database we can use to govern and steward. They also put in place the validation and metric controls so that we can check data quality, profiling, and accuracy. 

How did Waypoint Consulting perform from a project management standpoint? 

We chose to have them deploy a project manager for this engagement and it was extremely helpful. Waypoint Consulting kept us on task, and they met all the deliverables and deadlines. Phone and email were the primary communication tools. Any issues or decisions that needed to be made were appropriately escalated. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

Waypoint Consulting’s customer service sets them apart from other providers I've used. They have a niche when it comes to the data mart, data design, storage, and visualization tools. They're able to provide resources to help us complete a project end-to-end. In addition, the cost aspect is very reasonable. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

Their focus is primarily US-based. We do many things overseas, and they don't necessarily have the capability or assets to help us with international projects.