Unlocking Hidden Revenue: Optimizing Data Systems for a Leading Car Retailer

A leading car retailer faced several data management and reporting challenges. They partnered with us to streamline their data systems, optimize their workflows, and see tangible business value.

Challenge:

1. Security risks: The car retailer had many Excel workbooks connected directly to their SQL Server database. This exposed the company to security risks, as end-users with access to these reports also had access to live environments.
2. Hard to identify reliable information: Due to numerous overlapping workbooks, invalid data entry points, and incorrect table mappings, teams struggled to locate accurate sources of data.
3. High Tableau costs: The company’s reliance on Tableau for reporting was expensive and limited user access due to licensing restrictions.

Solution:

• Snowflake migration: Egen helped the car retailer migrate from on-premises systems to Snowflake, a cloud-based data platform. This migration reduced the time to run reports from two days to 11.5 hours, improving efficiency and performance.
• Argo workflow orchestration: Egen used Argo to orchestrate the car retailer’s scripts, automating previously manual processes and minimizing human involvement. This led to faster execution and allowed for better testing and validation.
• Sigma Reporting project: Egen implemented Sigma, a user-friendly analytics platform, to replace the company’s Excel and Tableau reporting systems. This project involved cleaning up table mappings, transferring reports from SQL Server to Snowflake, and recreating reports within Sigma.

Benefits:

• Enhanced security: By using Snowflake, user access to the car retailers’ database environments was significantly restricted, creating a more secure relationship between end-users and their reports.
• Improved data accuracy: We helped condense numerous reports into a more reliable and valuable source of data, leading to better decision-making and increased confidence in data environments.
• Cost savings: Transitioning to Sigma saved the car retailer money, as it does not require the same level of licensing and costs as Tableau.
• Streamlined workflows: The car retailer’s teams have reported improvements in the quality of day-to-day work, and team leads have uncovered previously lost revenue due to the enhanced accuracy of reporting metrics.

Our work with the national car retailer shows the transformative power of optimized data systems and streamlined reporting.

By implementing Snowflake, Argo, and Sigma, we helped them improve security, increase data accuracy, save costs, and enhance workflows, illuminating how data projects can bring tangible business value to any organization.