In a world that’s moving and changing faster than you can type “Generative AI”, many of our clients come to us looking for guidance, clarity, and insights to transform their business in a way they know is possible, but seems difficult to reach. Snow Fox Data’s long list of expert services are designed to be tailored to each of those unique needs. But while our services are specific, our goal can be summarized with one intent: to help our clients make a difference with data. When our clients come to us looking for help leveraging their data to make an impact within their teams, organizations, and communities, we are proud of the opportunity to make their vision a reality.
We are honored to share the story of one client who worked with Snow Fox Data to elevate their existing data analytics strategy. While we cannot disclose our client’s name due to the nature of their business, they eagerly offer their inspiring story to our readers and fellow data enthusiasts.
A Need for Data Transformation
Our client company, operating in the supply chain and distribution industry, shared its vision for advanced data-driven insights and momentum in its data analytics practice. It soon became clear that there was also a desire to become more collaborative and efficient within their communications and technologies.
Our client contact, the IT Product Manager, came to us as an individual contributor leading a team of analysts, data scientists, data engineers, tech leads, and managers doing data analysis for the business. Having been at the company for eight years in various data analytics and IT roles and now positioned as a team leader, she knew there were missed opportunities to build a firm foundation and create efficiencies. “We had grown our analytics by adding additional tools and people to support it,” she said. “We were starting to realize that each user and team had a different set of priorities and we were not being as collaborative or strategic as we could be.”
“It was taking too long to deliver insights to the business which delays decision-making.” - IT Product Manager, Supply Chain and Distribution Industry
With a lack of strategy for their analytics, and separate departments contributing without collaboration, the client discovered that the absence of communication and resource sharing was leading to a plethora of consequential challenges. The client saw the amount of manual work increasing, projects taking up unnecessary time, data sources that were not being reused, tools or warehouses that weren’t fully built out, and even incorrect data. The IT Product Manager recalls, “All of these factors meant one thing - that it was taking too long to deliver insights to the business which delays decision-making.”
One Assessment, Many New Perspectives
Our client knew it was time to face the siloed analytics processes head-on and start pulling together the pieces to create a cohesive strategy. They began working with Snow Fox Data to perform a Data Analytics Strategy Assessment, a common first step for businesses looking to move the needle and identify the most impactful and strategic areas for change. The first stage brings experts into the business to gain a deeper understanding of the organization's current state. This includes a variety of activities including interviewing stakeholders, documenting the existing processes, and identifying the pain points and gaps that are impacting the organization or blocking them from achieving their goals. The IT Product Manager shared that there were many insights uncovered during this process. “By not working collaboratively and sharing, we were missing opportunities to take advantage of each others’ strengths,” she said. At the end of the assessment, our client received a roadmap and actionable next steps that could be taken that best fit their unique objectives, organizational structure, and culture.
“Working through the initial Data Analytics Strategy Assessment gave us what we needed to communicate our current state and improvement plan with our leadership team.”- IT Product Manager, Supply Chain and Distribution Industry
This was the ideal first small step forward for our client. “We weren’t ready to take on additional headcount yet,” the IT Product Manager states. “Working through the initial Data Analytics Strategy Assessment gave us what we needed to communicate our current state and improvement plan with our leadership team. Leveraging Snow Fox Data as a trusted resource for the support we needed was an essential part of this process.”
A Map for Data Analytics Success
Armed with a summary of existing processes and a roadmap for change, our client team got to work. The IT Product Manager shared, “We now had a clear path for the foundational activities that needed to be done to gain efficiencies to help our data analytics practice mature.” The company’s ability to enable work prioritization, collaboration across teams, and implement analytics standards had been internal roadblocks before the partnership with Snow Fox Data and the client was thrilled to begin making progress in these areas.
Having a clear path was just the first step in this partnership approach. Throughout the process, our client wisely leveraged Snow Fox Data’s Data Advisory services, leaning on our expert team for help. “We leaned on the Snow Fox Data team to help us answer detailed questions about the technology and ingestion tooling, leveraging best practices for our current environment, and maximizing our investment,” says the IT Product Manager. “The Snow Fox Data team served as a great sounding board for us.”
Positive Data Culture Change
As progress began to be made, our client noticed more than just process efficiencies. An actual data culture change was happening as well. Teams were starting to see their part of the process differently and began actively supporting the progress. They were becoming evangelists for the new way of doing things, empowered by seeing direct results.
“We’ve received such good feedback internally. It’s so nice to see people embrace these changes and realize there are so many efficiencies to be had.”- IT Product Manager, Supply Chain and Distribution Industry
“Take something as simple as standardization of our dashboards,” the IT Product Manager shared. “We used to work through messy dashboards that were time-consuming to create. The result was that adoption and use of those dashboards was low and if we wanted our organization to begin to use them, we had to make a change.” In this example, the results were eye-opening. Leaders agreed that the standardization across departments allowed them to use the dashboards more effectively. Analysts shed the wasted time used to format the custom dashboards allowing them to focus on delivering high-quality analytics within them. Business partners were able to take these standard dashboards and use them as professional sales tools without additional configuration. “We’ve received such good feedback internally. It’s so nice to see people embrace these changes and realize there are so many efficiencies to be had,” the IT Product Manager expressed.
The organization also engaged in a process mapping activity with Snow Fox Data which fostered an opportunity for additional engagement and insight from a variety of individual team members. Our client describes this activity as teams getting “curious through conversation” and becoming more comfortable and open to asking questions of other departments. She shares, “This activity alone has done a great job of helping us break down our silos and work together more collaboratively.”
Partnerships With Impact
Our client continues to implement the changes detailed in their Data Analytics Strategy Assessment and is well on their way to success with many clear wins already. Where would they be today if they hadn’t started this journey with Snow Fox Data? The IT Product Manager describes a hypothetical scene of redundancy and stalled progress. “We would still be dealing with manual processes, duplication of work, and wondering if there is a better way to do things.” she reflects. “This has made our people think about ways we can improve and how we can share and engage with each other more effectively. Snow Fox Data has brought awareness to our organization and helped reinforce the importance of becoming more mature in the analytics space.”
“Snow Fox Data has brought awareness to our organization and helped reinforce the importance of becoming more mature in the analytics space."- IT Product Manager, Supply Chain and Distribution Industry
Snow Fox Data focuses on partnering with clients to make sure the results are customized to each company and need. “I feel like they are an extension of my team. They are such a great culture fit for us,” our client says. “They try to develop an understanding of what we’re going through and find solutions that meet us where we are. They don’t assume they know your business coming in.” Our client says Snow Fox Data has done a great job understanding their business challenges and has expanded their line of sight into things they could be doing more effectively. “We trust that we’re not alone on this journey.”
We are proud to be part of this client’s success story and look forward to partnering with them on their continued path toward data analytics maturity. For more use cases and client experiences, visit our blog and find success stories from clients just like you who are making a difference with data.
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