The Customer: As part of a broader system modernization initiative, our client aimed to enhance the visibility and comprehensibility of their enterprise application data.

The Challenge: Our enterprise customer needed to move beyond basic tabular reporting and into visual analytics to leverage the vast amounts of information stored in proprietary application databases for timely and actionable performance analytics. A solution was needed that would serve the needs of multiple management layers, from frontline staff to regional and executive managers, each with specific information needs. The solution needed to be accessible through both an analytics portal and directly within their enterprise web application, and it required enterprise features such as a robust data model layer, data transformation, data source connectors, security, multiple navigation vectors, flexible appealing visuals and the ability to automate data refreshes.

The Solution: After analyzing our customer’s architecture and user requirements, Power BI was chosen as the solution. This solution would be fully automated, pulling and transforming data without manual intervention. In addition to leveraging the Power BI Service for consuming reports, the embedding API would be used for seamless integration with the customer’s web application.

The Theme: Our customer wanted to produce meaningful, uncluttered, visually appealing analytics that delivered actionable insights for its users. The data source was complex and large, the subject matter unique and the appetite for visual analysis diverse. Millions of key performance indicator (KPI) data records and their composing elements over years of performance needed to be brought to life for a large community of stakeholders across multiple management levels. The vast requirements set included point in time snapshots, historical trends, summaries at multiple hierarchal levels, granular detail views, organizational hierarchy summary views, KPI composition breakdowns, synchronized and report specific slicers, and flexible navigation between reports.

The Microsoft Azure Power BI solution had a strong following within the customer’s organization, with front-line users developing visualizations supported by flat file data sources. We needed to extend their Power BI use into an enterprise framework that would consume data from their application databases into a flexible, high performing data model with no manual intervention. This challenging undertaking would require embracing a variety of technology skills and software development lifecycle (SDLC) disciplines.

The Implementation: Delivering a successful solution requires the right plan, the right people and effective management. VISTA’s framework for developing visualization and analytics products was built on decades of experience and included Power BI specific elements that allowed us to rapidly deploy the resources needed to deliver. Our team included professional project management with PMP certifications; Visual Analytics developers with Power BI experience and product certifications; subject matter experts (SMEs) with deep knowledge of the domain, underlying calculations and use cases; data stewards with complete knowledge of the underlying data storage; and IT experts in database administration (DBAs), IT infrastructure, IT security, Azure cloud development and enterprise web application development. Our dimensional data model was built rapidly with the assistance of data stewards and subject matter experts and designed to leverage the performance features of the Power BI VertiPaq engine and load without manual intervention. Visual analytics development was performed in iterative cycles, providing traditional visualizations and introducing new visuals that leveraged the full feature set of Power BI. Frequent, often weekly, demonstrations of completed products allowed the customer to accept what was working, abandon what was not and ask for new innovative views of data. Web application embedding was achieved using the Power BI embedding API for a seamless integration of the new visualizations into the customer’s enterprise application. By following a clear plan and bringing in the right people, the implementation proceeded smoothly and was delivered on schedule and within budget.

Results: VISTA delivered meaningful, uncluttered, visually appealing analytics with actionable insights to over 3,000 users. With more than 40 reports offering complex drill down and cross-navigation capabilities, our users can now pinpoint areas of excellence as well poor performance and take action. Automated data refreshes keep the data current and relevant without manual intervention, allowing users to perform analysis and act more frequently. The resounding success of the implementation has driven increased demand for Power BI visual analytics throughout the organization.

The Implementation Provider: VISTA provides professional and technical services to federal agencies and commercial customers. Make VISTA Your Partner in Innovation.