About the Firm

A top US recruiting firm wanted to modernize their Executive and Operational reporting.  Their current process involved custom reports provided by a third-party SaaS provider, which was expensive and had a long lead time for delivery.   Drawing insights out of the reporting often required manual workarounds to move data from system to system and into a useable format. The internal team spent an oversized amount of time each week compiling and distributing reports and insights, all of which contained data points which were 7-10 days old by the time it was received.

Because there were no 3rd party tools on the market with native integrations to the firm’s core applications, GadellNet built an ETL process to extract data and load it to an Azure SQL database. This integration app is executed multiple times per day so reports always display the latest information. Because the client is an Office 365 E5 subscriber, Power BI was already included with their current licensing. Leveraging Power BI allowed us to implement powerful data visualization, while also providing reporting access to end users at no additional licensing cost.

• ETL process leveraging API integration with two of the firm’s critical applications
• Azure SQL database for data storage and modeling
• Power BI for data modeling and visualization

Impact Made

GadellNet’s objective view of the firm’s legacy reporting during the discovery phase was the unsung hero of this project. Working together with the client, we reviewed key business drivers, performance management processes, KPI management and report delivery. We evaluated the current process within a framework of the desired business outcomes.  This practice allowed us to do more than simply replicate legacy reporting. It resulted in enhanced data integrity, a better understanding of core business systems, and new insights through improved data management and visualization. All of this greatly improved user experience.