Many medium-sized companies are currently faced with the challenge of setting the course for their digital future. Since the ChatGPT revolution, at the latest, the business applications of data and artificial intelligence seem almost endless. But what is the right path for your own company? Which technologies make sense and how do I proceed?

Lena Gädke from starpool knows what it means to face these questions. As both data product owner and developer, she is primarily responsible for all data-related issues at the financial services provider, which has 132 employees. Until now, a Qlik Sense system was the main tool she used in her daily work. “We developed the solution ourselves. We connected our data sources directly and developed analysis paths as needed. That was sufficient for creating reports. However, as our requirements grew, we reached our limits in many respects. Above all, we lacked a central location where we could consolidate all our data and make it available for analysis with other tools – in other words, what is essentially a modern data lakehouse.”

It was clear to everyone involved that a completely new solution was needed. The wish list included a comprehensively scalable data and AI platform that could be operated and continuously developed even with a small team.

Data-driven company as a target vision

Starpool’s digital vision corresponds to that of a typical data-driven company: “Overall, we want to make working with data easier,” says Lena Gädke. “Every employee should have access to existing data and evaluations and be able to use them for their activities in a self-service manner. In addition, our goal is to gradually automate as many business processes as possible on the basis of data.”

Against this backdrop, the search for the right technology began. Fabric, a new all-in-one data platform from Microsoft, ultimately won the race. “Our data landscape and that of the group is already based on Microsoft components. Therefore, the move in this direction was only logical. At the same time, Fabric’s enormous innovation potential convinced us. Much of it happens at the touch of a button and is easy to use. This suits our small team very well. Ultimately, the technology is perfect for our initial situation. We can quickly and efficiently build a modern data & AI platform that is fully up to date. This opens up all kinds of possibilities for us in the future.”

All that was missing was the right partner for strategic planning and implementation of the solution. Starpool found this partner through an internet search. “ORAYLIS appears high up in the search results. The company is one of the leading fabric partners in Germany and Austria. From the very first conversation, I felt very comfortable with them, both professionally and personally. In addition, the ORAYLIS consultants were the best prepared of all the candidates. That made the decision easy. Together with my team leader at the time, René Kutz, we then made a pitch to the management and got the final go-ahead for the project.”

Strategy workshop defines the approach

The collaboration began with a special strategy workshop, the Fabric Adoption Planning Series. Here, the goals, the technical solution, and the implementation plan were defined jointly. The participants also put exemplary use cases to the test, which were to be implemented as a first breakthrough during platform development. This way, the solution can generate the first business value right from the start.

The development process itself was extremely straightforward thanks to the all-in-one approach: “Working closely with the group IT department, we only had to make a few basic settings and within a few minutes we had rolled out the basic platform, from data integration and consolidation to data analysis. Fabric clearly delivers what it promises,“ explains André Nünninghof, project manager at ORAYLIS. ”We were then able to connect the desired sources directly and run initial evaluations in Power BI. The tool is an integral part of Fabric and will replace Qlik Sense as the company-wide analysis interface in the future. We are currently seeing this kind of switch from classic BI tools to Fabric and Power BI very frequently.”

The Fabric platform also includes OneLake, a highly scalable data lake. This is where data is collected and made available in an open format for cross-system analysis. The necessary governance and security measures can also be managed centrally. There have been no significant hurdles in applying the new technology: “Fabric is now running very stably,” says André Nünninghoff. “Due to its high complexity, not all functions are fully mature yet. But when the need arose, we always found good solutions without incurring any technical debt.”

Use cases with business value

The first of the selected use cases is a standard application. “We transferred our proven reports from Qlik Sense to Power BI, putting them on a solid foundation,” explains Lena Gädke. “As a result, we can offer our users not only better evaluation functions, but also optimal performance and data quality at all times, as our various sources are now systematically merged and processed.” With the introduction of Power BI, the company-wide database is available to every employee. At the same time, data products such as reports can be integrated into Dynamics and made available to the entire company. This saves the company license costs, as all the necessary resources can be scaled in small increments. From an F64 capacity onwards, the costs for report consumers are completely eliminated.

The second use case, on the other hand, shows where starpool is headed in the future. For the first time, a business process that was originally manual has been successfully automated. “Our customers are primarily financial advisors, whom we support with tools such as our Europace comparison platform and direct consulting services. Newcomers receive special assistance. For example, our key account managers contact them directly after their first sale to offer further support.

Previously, they had to actively check the BI tool and manually record the status. This process is now fully automated in Dynamics. The key account manager receives a notification from the system and can then contact the customer immediately.

Digitalization is being driven forward

With the Fabric platform behind it, starpool’s digitalization initiative is now being driven forward in various areas. “The first step is to connect more and more data sources in order to end the parallel operation of Qlik Sense and Fabric as quickly as possible,” says Lena Gädke. “We are also already working on a follow-up project with ORAYLIS, in which we are integrating additional data products relating to our partners’ activities and transactions into Dynamics. In the future, we also plan to support our partners with data-driven services.”

Otherwise, the players are currently focusing primarily on organizational issues. After all, 132 potential internal users need to be empowered to work with data on a daily basis. A training concept for Power BI is currently being developed. New reports are now being developed hand in hand with users. The goal is to increase data literacy throughout starpool and to install a data ambassador in each team. This person will then be the first point of contact for data issues and will clarify concerns in direct exchange with the data team.

One thing is certain: starpool will continue on its path to becoming a data-driven company together with ORAYLIS. “The collaboration is going very well. We have an honest, almost friendly relationship. I can ask any question without hesitation. Even short-term changes are handled in a very pragmatic and solution-oriented manner. This is how I imagine a successful collaboration between equals. It’s just a lot of fun.”

turn your data into value.