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Making data usable and actionable for a leading UK charity

A business intelligence dashboard and data management system displayed on a laptop along with data visualisation tools for data analysis and customer management displayed on a phone

Client

Be the Business

Client since

2019

Services provided

Data strategy, Data warehousing, Complex integrations, Power BI reporting dashboards

The Problem

Since founding, BtB has grown rapidly. As they’ve grown, the amount of data they need to manage, analyse and understand has also increased rapidly.

For example, BtB need to access key insights about their activities, the number of people on their programmes and the impact they are having. This is essential if they are to direct resources to the right places and justify their funding. At the beginning of the project there was no system that could deliver these insights.

Several factors made data management challenging:

• They run a variety of programmes, from mentoring partnerships with universities to online tools.

• The data they collect is varied, from highly qualitative information to detailed business metrics. 

• There was no consistent data format. Information was stored in spreadsheets, 3rd party systems and on paper.

• There were various stakeholders collecting data with no consistent way of collecting, storing or inputting this data.

The goal of the project was to unify all BtB’s data, bring it together and organise it in a single place so that it could be queried and actionable reports created from it.

Characteristics of the project

Inconsistent & poor quality source data

As with many data projects, there was little consistency in what data was collected, how it was collected and in what format it was stored.

Salesforce integration

It was decided that salesforce would be used. Our system, therefore, needed to integrate seamlessly with Salesforce.

Charitable organisation

Be the Business is a charitable organisation and the objectives and stakeholder needs of the project needed to reflect this.

No existing data model

Given the starting point, a primary task was to first understand the organisation’s processes, then create a data model that would support the organisation in achieving its objectives.

The Solution

Creating a data model

Business process design was a key part of this project. The Steer73 team used stakeholder interviews, workshops and a significant amount of research to develop a deep understanding of the data that BtB collect and their current processes.

Each programme manager was managing data in a different way and there was no uniform data. So, first Steer73 developed a data model that staff could follow.

A key part of this data model was tool and solution analysis for the data storage and analysis part of the system. A decision was made to use Salesforce.

Data input & collection

As with so many data projects, the human element was a key challenge. With various individuals all inputting data in their own way, it was essential that processes were designed that encouraged adherence to a consistent system. Steer73 set BtB up with the tools they needed for success, including process manuals.

Historical data also needed to be collated and bulk uploaded to Salesforce.

Data input & collection

As with so many data projects, the human element was a key challenge. With various individuals all inputting data in their own way, it was essential that processes were designed that encouraged adherence to a consistent system. Steer73 set BtB up with the tools they needed for success, including process manuals.

Historical data also needed to be collated and bulk uploaded to Salesforce.

Making the data usable with actionable reports

Once the data was in one location, in a consistent and structured format, there was a database that BtB could run reports from.

PowerBI was chosen as the visualisation software and Steer73 created a set of reports that instantly gave BtB the insights they needed to thrive.

Solution details

The tech

✅ PowerBI
✅ Salesforce integration
✅ Microsoft Power apps

Delivery methodology

✅ Waterfall
❌Agile

Product services

✅ Stakeholder interviews
✅ Workshops
✅ Process mapping
✅ Data analysis
✅ New process design
✅ Tool and solution analysis

The impact

✔ BtB can now instantly access the data they need to prove the impact of their programmes and justify their funding

✔ BtB now have a way to understand and structure their data. This forms the foundation of their data approach and can be built on over time.

✔ The project unified BtB’s data collection processes across programme managers and ensures that they have access to data long into the future

✔ BtB are benefiting from improved efficiency

✔ BtB have improved visibility and access to any data that they required

The impact

✔ BtB can now instantly access the data they need to prove the impact of their programmes and justify their funding

✔ BtB now have a way to understand and structure their data. This forms the foundation of their data approach and can be built on over time.

✔ The project unified BtB’s data collection processes across programme managers and ensures that they have access to data long into the future

✔ BtB are benefiting from improved efficiency

✔ BtB have improved visibility and access to any data that they required

Have a project you would like to discuss?

No matter what stage your project is in, we would love to speak. We offer a free discovery service to help you develop a deeper understanding of your problem, the potential solutions and the costs involved in building a solution.