Analytics8

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the IT Director of Trinseo

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Trinseo has a balanced product portfolio of plastics and latex binders solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Analytics8 to accomplish?

• Provide a data strategy roadmap on one pre-defined business area
• Architecture - current state and future state evaluation
• Present business-focused findings, including timeline to implement and costs

SOLUTION

How did you find Analytics8?

long-time supplier

Why did you select Analytics8 over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Analytics8 were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Data Strategy and Roadmap:
  • Create the foundation for Data Strategy roadmap starting with a focus on 1 pre-determined business area
• Data Strategy Roadmap and Timeline:
  • outlining the next steps to achieving milestones and implementing the future state of Data and Analytics
  • Stage 0 Data Governance evaluation
• Architecture - Current State to Future State Evaluation:
  • Review current state architecture and data sources in support of designing the future state architecture 
  • Evaluate and identify future state requirements for architecture and technology
  • Validate if the chosen technology stack will support future state goals, recommend individual technologies within the stack to be used in combination to achieve the future state architecture (how data will flow, be stored and accessed) and how the technologies should be used
  • Recommend technologies (or other technologies as identified) to best support requirements for data ingestion, data transformation, orchestration and data storage
  • Present findings and supporting artifacts for work performed.

Deliverables could include the following:

• Use case list, rationalization, and prioritization. The format is one or more Gantt chart-style timelines showing next steps to increasing D&A maturity with supporting slides that detail the immediate next steps on the timeline.
• Provide timeline and cost estimates for implementation phases if necessary

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Several presentations and ultimately two decks with deliverables.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

At first the project management was a bit rocky and seemed to just want to recommend something and be completed with the project. It took engagement from our senior contact to redirect the team, bring in some additional resources, and integrate our feedback into the engagement to create a valuable output.
What was your primary form of communication with Analytics8?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Our main contact at Analytics8 is very customer-focused and tries to ensure the solutions implemented meet the needs of my company. They had deep experience in data and analytics and stayed up-to-date on all new developments in the industry, so we were able to compare/contrast options.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Analytics8 could have done differently?

At the beginning of the engagement, it felt like we had a bit of a bait and switch with resources as the resources assigned seemed junior and focused on getting out a deliverable in a defined time vs. listening to our needs and what we agreed to during the SOW drafting phase to guide us. Ultimately our main account lead did intervene and brought in some additional, more skilled resources to provide a quality deliverable.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CIO at Eating Recovery Center. (ERC) which is the nation’s leading mental health care system dedicated to the treatment of eating disorders. ERC specializes in treating patients struggling with eating disorders and related conditions including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, diabulimia, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), unspecified eating disorders and co-occurring conditions (OSFED).

Led by the world’s leading experts, ERC provides innovative, evidence-based treatment programs tailored for patients of all ages, genders and ethnicities. Working with patients as well as their families, ERC's multi-disciplinary treatment programs are designed to help illuminate their unique paths forward and provide a foundation for resilience and long-lasting mental wellness.

ERC offers Inpatient, Residential, Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP) levels of care in centers across the country as well as Virtual PHP and IOP (video) telebehavioral health services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Analytics8?

On joining ERC in March 2021, it was evident that the small Data Management team were drowning in requests from our business stakeholders, and when delivering dashboards or reports, significant errors or irregularities were exposed.

I felt that I needed to halt all future development of dashboards while I conducted an evaluation of the root causes and also to evaluate the technology and process supporting the development of those dashboards/reports.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

An ex colleague of mine recommended Analytics8 as a possible choice for the Data Management assessment i needed. Having discussed with a small team from A8 via video conference, explaining my needs, i felt that they understood it, and had explicit use cases from their portfolio that indicated they had done this before and i felt i connected with them on a personal level. They are very knowledgeable and humble, not pushy consulting types.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

I wanted a four tier approach to their engagement:

1. Tell me whats wrong, why are the data consistently inaccurate?

2. Provide me a roadmap to stop the bleed and to correct the errors that we are living with every day.

3. Evaluate what skills i need (that i might not have) to maintain a recommended path forward

4. Understanding that a total rearchitecting of the data environment is not an option, provide me suggestions for three options for design. Good, Better, Best.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Four: Account Manager VP Data Management 2 x Sr Consultants

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

A8 provided a roadmap for corrective action, recommendations for rectification and a strategy for future design as requested - approx 120hrs earlier than anticipated. Used those hours for support for newly hire Sr Director Data Management who will lead the internal efforts to get DM back on track.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

A8 Interview key stakeholders in the business, and the feedback from them was that the interviews were welcomed and handled very well. Not technical speak, but business speak, which always goes down well with business users.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their humility, they listened to what i wanted, didnt pad the SOW with fluff i didnt need/want, and they executed earlier than expected and under budget. This wasn't a huge dollar engagement, but i felt i had an A team assigned.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I was extremely happy with the team that worked on this engagement, i would have no problem recommending that team to anyone for a similar engagement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the VP of an automotive company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

After market auto services

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Analytics8 to accomplish?

• Be primary provider of data operations support & BI development
• Assist in creating an enterprise data strategy
• Optimize data and BI operating model

SOLUTION

How did you find Analytics8?

Previous relationship

Why did you select Analytics8 over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Analytics8 were assigned to this project?

25+

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Create enterprise data strategy that encompasses data ingestion, data management, governance, and operating model. Take over as primary provider of data operations (engineering, architectural, etc.) and BI development and support

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Deliver all prioritized work on time, on/below budget 
• Deliver business-aligned enterprise strategy by EOY 2023

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• Project management principles are aligned with our company and delivery has met expectations.

What was your primary form of communication with Analytics8?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

• They consistently brought high talent.
• Able to quickly on-board / become autonomous 
• Thorough and consistent delivery of solutions and documentation

Are there any areas for improvement or something Analytics8 could have done differently?

• More regular checkpoints of performance and delivery 
• System integration capabilities & resources
• More competitive rate card