Service

Data Engineering

Trusted data feeding decisions leaders actually use.

Business IntelligenceDashboardsPower BIData Warehousing

Executive summary

What this practice is for.

Most reporting problems are data problems. Dashboards get abandoned when two numbers disagree and nobody can explain why.

We build the boring foundations first — ingestion, modelling, lineage and quality tests — then the executive surfaces on top.

The measure of success is a leadership meeting that argues about the decision, not about the number.

Business challenges

What we are usually called in to fix.

Conflicting numbers

Every department reports a different figure for the same metric.

Manual MIS

Analysts spend the first week of the month assembling spreadsheets.

No history

Operational systems overwrite state, so trends cannot be reconstructed.

Abandoned dashboards

Reports were designed for the tool rather than for a decision.

Why traditional approaches fail

  • BI tools are deployed on top of unmodelled operational data.
  • Metric definitions live in report filters instead of a governed semantic layer.
  • Data quality is discovered by executives rather than by tests.
  • Reporting requirements are gathered without asking what decision follows.

Methodology

The SJAIN method.

Six stages, each with defined inputs, outputs and owners.

  1. Step 01

    Define

    Agree the decisions, metrics and definitions with the people accountable for them.

  2. Step 02

    Model

    Design the warehouse and semantic layer around those metrics.

  3. Step 03

    Ingest

    Build reliable, monitored pipelines from source systems.

  4. Step 04

    Test

    Automate data quality, freshness and reconciliation checks.

  5. Step 05

    Visualise

    Build role-specific dashboards and executive MIS.

  6. Step 06

    Embed

    Wire reporting into the operating rhythm and retire manual packs.

Scope of services

What is included

  • Data strategy and metric definition
  • Data warehouse and lakehouse design
  • ETL and ELT pipelines
  • Data quality and lineage
  • Power BI and dashboard development
  • Executive MIS and board reporting
  • Self-service analytics enablement
  • Advanced and predictive analytics

Deliverables

What you receive

  • Metric dictionary and semantic layer
  • Warehouse schema and pipeline code
  • Automated quality and freshness tests
  • Executive and operational dashboards
  • Analyst enablement and documentation

Architecture overview

How it is built.

  1. 01

    Source extraction with change-data-capture where volume demands it.

  2. 02

    Raw, staged and curated layers with clear ownership.

  3. 03

    Dimensional models tuned for the questions people actually ask.

  4. 04

    Semantic layer holding single definitions of every published metric.

  5. 05

    Lineage and quality dashboards exposed to data consumers.

Implementation process

  • Weeks 1–2

    Metric definition workshops and source assessment.

  • Weeks 3–8

    Warehouse, pipelines and first executive dashboard live.

  • Ongoing

    Expand subject areas and enable self-service analysis.

Security & compliance

  • Row and column level security aligned to organisational roles
  • Masking of sensitive attributes in non-production environments
  • Full lineage for regulatory reporting
  • Retention and archival policy per data domain

Benefits & ROI

The numbers this practice moves.

0 days

Typical reduction in month-end reporting cycle

0

Agreed definition per published metric

0%

Fewer manual reporting requests

Industries served

Frequently asked questions

It depends on volume, variety and team skills. We size the decision rather than default to the fashionable option.

Yes — a governed data layer is the cheapest path to reliable AI, and we design it with that next step in mind.

Related case study

Private AI for credit operations

Six times faster credit file review with a full audit trail

Read the case study

Downloadable guide

Data Engineering capability guide

A practical guide covering methodology, architecture patterns, deliverables and typical commercial models.

Request the guide

Not sure where this practice
fits your roadmap?

We start with a discovery workshop: current state, constraints, the highest-value first slice and what it costs to prove it.

Book a discovery workshop