Case Study
Client Overview
The client is a prominent player in the oil and petroleum sector. Founded in 1921, the company specializes in the supply and distribution service to wholesale, commercial, industrial, retail, marine, and cardlock customers across 34 states, along with the marketing of petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, lubricants. With a robust infrastructure supporting its operations, the company is recognized for its efficiency and commitment to quality service and for its decades of experience in in supply, distribution, and marketing of petroleum products.
Challenges
Faced with limitations in their previous data processing and analytics platform, the client, with help from Mentastack, seamlessly transitioned to Microsoft Fabric, a unified and robust solution for data modernization. This shift not only showcased the company’s agility in adapting to new technologies but also significantly improved data delivery speed and end-user access. This transformation highlights the substantial impact of Microsoft Fabric in enhancing the client’s analytics capabilities, positioning the company for sustained growth and excellence through strategic platform use.
Solution Approach
Adoption of Microsoft Fabric marks a major transformation in the client’s technology platform. This strategic move enables rapid processing of large data volumes and provides near-real-time data access to operational departments, vastly improving business efficiency compared to the previous nightly refresh cycle.
The implementation for the client began with an MVP aimed at processing large volumes of data quickly and multiple times daily to enhance data delivery speed. The solution integrates on-premises data sources, including PDI (for Sales, Inventory, Receivables, and General Ledger) and JDE (for Operational Information). Using Azure Data Factory, data is ingested into the Bronze Lakehouse and then transformed and aggregated from bronze to gold lake houses using Microsoft Fabric’s Apache Spark capabilities within Azure Data Lake. This integration seamlessly connects heterogeneous data sources from frontend applications to backend relational databases, eliminates data silos through Azure Data Lake and One Lake, and sets up a unified storage system. The streamlined data processing and transformation also support advanced analytics and business intelligence in Power BI, with existing reports redirected to the SQL endpoint of the Lakehouse within Fabric.
Business Benefits
Enhanced Performance and Efficiency
- Microsoft Fabric’s streamlined architecture and unified platform have substantially reduced wait times and resolved delays in data delivery across internal business functions. Its advanced analytics capabilities, including faster visual refreshes and the ability to handle high data volumes multiple times daily, have significantly improved data processing speed and efficiency for the client.
Cost-Effective Solution and Alignment with Strategic Goals:
- Microsoft Fabric has proven to be cost-effective and aligns perfectly with the client’s objective of transitioning to a unified platform. Its feature-rich, scalable design enhances data accuracy, reduces monitoring efforts, offers flexibility for automatic report, and refreshes immediately after pipeline execution, thereby delivering considerable value and supporting the company’s strategic goals.
Enhanced Data Delivery and Refresh Capability
- The transition from a legacy technology stack to Microsoft Fabric was driven by delays in data delivery and the inability to refresh data frequently. Microsoft Fabric’s comprehensive integration, transformation, and analytical capabilities, coupled with its rapid data processing for large volumes, made it the preferred choice for a unified platform.
Proven Value Through POC and Assessment
- A detailed proof of concept (POC) and evaluation of Microsoft Fabric highlighted its significant value across multiple parameters. The implementation of the Fabric MVP solution enabled near-real-time data processing during business hours, delivering faster results and more timely data to end users.
Streamlined Technology Management
- Microsoft Fabric replaced the previous setup, which involved disparate technologies, multiple monitoring systems, and numerous data silos. Fabric provides a more intuitive, manageable, and supportable solution, simplifying development, understanding, and monitoring.
Highlights of our Engagement
- Microsoft Fabric’s scalable architecture, combined with our on-time delivery, has not only satisfied our customers but also inspired them to
pursue ambitious future data goals. This success has led to the renewal of our contract, securing ongoing business opportunities, and
reinforcing our trusted partnership. - Leveraging Microsoft Fabric’s advanced capabilities, the client is committed to empowering and strengthening its business functions.
We are well-positioned to support continued growth and swiftly adapt to evolving business needs, including mergers and acquisitions, ensuring seamless integration and agile response to new opportunities.
Conclusion
The client was impressed with the MenteStack team’s expertise with Microsoft Fabric. Our team showcased exceptional domain knowledge and skills in facilitating easy adoption of Microsoft Fabric to accelerate data processing, enhance data quality, and enable advanced analytics on a unified, integrated platform, driving significant business outcomes.