Trianz

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CTO of a leading consumer website for multifamily home or single-family home rentals. We connect the consumer with a multi-family home complex, and it’s all basically done online. We have about 19,000 advertisers and about 6.5 million monthly visitors.  I oversee all the architecture delivery design for the website and back-office applications.

We have about 300 employees. I also worked for another famous website for car shopping that Trianz (formerly CBIG Consulting) helped for a very similar model. That website connected automotive shoppers with a dealership on a lead-base model. That site has much higher traffic at about 20 million unique visitors a month with 18,000 dealerships and 3.5 million vehicles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Trianz?

I’ve been in the department for one year now. When I got here, we had a lot of disarray around our data needs specifically within the data warehouse. Our underlying data architecture was very flawed in different places.

I had Trianz essentially come in and do a very extensive audit on our current-day warehouse setup. They gave me a great idea of what the current state looks like really from a people-process technology perspective. They also provided recommendations on how to move to a future state with a very comprehensive step-by-step program. This recommendation became the blueprint for the way we moved forward and implemented our Teradata solution.

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with Trianz?

They did a pretty large implementation project for us previously. That was a highly successful project. We had purchased the Teradata data appliance for our warehouse needs. We needed an implementation partner. We brought Trianz in to help evaluate firms.

They did a couple of different things. They helped us pick the right solutions. They ran the entire RFP process for us. We had six vendors in play at any given time, and they narrowed it down to three. They also helped design the implementation plan. They helped us select an offshore company to migrate the data from our Legacy platform to Teradata.

When was the last work that Trianz did for your firm completed?

February of 2013.

How much have you invested with them?

It was definitely a six-figure project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Trianz perform from a project management standpoint?

I think they’re very reputable in Chicago. They’ve got a great team of experts that we were able to rely on during the project. We were actually able to stay in contact with them post-project for questions. We’ve relied on them just to look at some of our business intelligence tool needs without a formal engagement for advice.

In the two large engagements that I’ve done with them, we have not gone over budget. We haven’t missed crucial dates. They are flexible with changes and hiccups. We’ve been very satisfied with their work so far.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They don’t have an allegiance to one specific vendor, which seems rare. When we selected Teradata, they didn’t try to sway that decision. They basically laid out all the pros and cons of each and what we were going to get. They definitely have their pulse on all things related to data or data warehouses within Chicago.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I would say that they ’re a little bit more on the expensive side. You pay for what you get at the end of the day. I think they have experts, and you’re going to pay for the expertise. If I’m paying that type of hourly rate, I definitely want an expert. Their staff has the breadth of knowledge and experience, and it’s clear they can handle large enterprise clients.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a Danish company that creates and markets neurological and psychopathic drugs for many serious diseases like Huntington ’s disease and depression. We have been in the US for years selling through American partners. Recently, we purchased a US company to sell therapies in the US.

I'm the director of sales operations and technologies and am responsible for the data warehouse but not the infrastructure. I also run CRM, Business Intelligence, and some other smaller data groups.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Trianz?

We needed to understand the market for these therapies. Some drug markets are small, in only the thousands in the US. We needed help marketing for larger markets for more popular drugs also for revenue.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The initial data warehouse was very simple and rudimentary. We needed to enhance that so we could do more with the data. This wouldn’t be acceptable in the future world of business. Trianz (formerly CBIG Consulting) was brought in to build a strategic data roadmap for us. They are experts in master data management. This is huge in the pharmaceutical world since we have huge amounts of data for sales analytics, dosing for patients and physician targeting. We must understand our customers or we will not be successful.

They mapped out our data warehouse and BI reporting as well. That was the second part. They also provide consultants and help with other work that arises.

How did you come to work with Trianz?

I hired them in January 2013. My friend from a financial firm was very satisfied with their work. She is a great data modeler and took a job with Trianz later. I brought Trianz on board because I knew their company was professional.

How much have you invested with them?

We have had 7 full-time resources here since March 2013. Some will come and go depending on business need. It is over $1 million so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

They finished it in September 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have automated many processes with a much larger data set and more accuracy. The conversion has led to much better data, more accuracy, and a larger scope.

How did Trianz perform from a project management standpoint?

I am satisfied with their work and our partnership. Their resources are professional and there were very few issues between the Trianz folks and our team.

Trianz is willing to work weekends and nights to satisfy our sales team. They will work OT to get people the data they need on time. There isn’t much room for error in our business and they come through.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are different than large consultants like Accenture. They have a very seasoned group. All of the analysts are great, they don’t have junior people. Their team is filled with experienced people with 15 years plus in this space. These are pros and they know so much about this business. They can draw on their past success for current projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish that both my group and their team decided to hire a PM for this. It would have been a better setup for our project.