Strengthening decision-making with a modern data platform

Overview

Aurecon is a design, engineering, and advisory company that relies on access to the latest business data when making executive and operational decisions. However, with some essential information restricted to core CRM and ERP business applications, staff were spending valuable time and effort extracting data and producing reports that were not scalable. Leadership saw the opportunity to transform this capability to better serve Aurecon’s team members and clients.

Together with Slalom, Aurecon developed Insights, a greenfield serverless data platform on Microsoft Azure using a lakehouse architecture. The team has built a set of interactive dashboards for enterprise executives who now have a centralized, reliable insight into key metrics to run the business at maximum health and efficiency. This foundational work has unlocked a path to building a more data-driven culture.

Scope

Data Engineering, Platform Engineering, Solution Ownership, Quality Engineering, Data Modeling, Information Management, Agile Delivery

Technology

Microsoft Azure, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Lake storage, Power BI Service, Workday, Microsoft Dynamics 365

A modern consulting firm relies on good data

Aurecon and its workforce of 7,800+ focus on the successful delivery of large-scale civil and building engineering works. Marquee projects include Allianz Stadium in Australia, the Auckland City Rail Link in New Zealand, and the Dau Tieng 1 and 2 PV Solar Power Plant in Vietnam.

Aurecon needs accurate and up-to-date business data and insights to manage staffing and projects, predict demand, and make strategic decisions. The C-suite relies on this reporting to monitor the performance of the business, mitigate risk, and improve operational efficiency.

Challenges in the absence of a single source of truth

In 2021, Aurecon implemented a new ERP business application. Similar to many ERP projects, connectivity and integration with a data analytics platform couldn’t be prioritized straight away. However, there was no shortage of demand for insights into performance.

Without a connected and modernized data warehouse, Aurecon was reliant on “spreadsheet analytics.” Team members had to divert time away from valuable client work to pull together reports requested by executives. On any given day, the chief financial officer (CFO) might get six different utilization reports, all with contradictory numbers and no way to tell which one was correct.

It also became difficult to correlate performance measures, leading to more analysis requests.

Transforming operations with a foundational analytics capability

Those challenges have been addressed with the establishment of a new data platform called Insights. It’s built with tomorrow in mind; the infrastructure currently supports key reporting and also creates the opportunity to leverage artificial intelligence for more speed and intelligence in the future.

Aurecon and Slalom have successfully created a new set of dashboards and reports that are readily available to staff, including key stakeholders such as the CFO and the general manager of operations. Insights is an exciting development that has started conversations about upgrading other core technology, including the customer-facing data platform and approaches to utilization and workforce management. These conversations wouldn’t have been possible a year ago.

“As an example, one new metric we’ve exposed is pipeline accuracy. We can see when forecasts, start dates, and deal status haven’t been updated,” says Ian Petherbridge, data and analytics lead at Aurecon. “Without that information at the enterprise and operational level, we didn’t know how reliable our pipeline estimates were, and we couldn’t see how to increase their accuracy. Now we can actively manage and curate our pipeline to do better financial planning.”

The steering committee that governs this strategic data work is happy to extend the investment now that its value has been clearly established.

The gains in operational efficiency are also evident. Reports that used to take several people and many days to produce are now automated, and all that effort can be directed to more value-added activities.

“This is a spectacular piece of business capability that’s driving deeper views and deeper understanding of the way we do business, and the executive team is actively promoting and pushing work toward it.”

— Michael Monaghan, Program Manager, Enterprise Platforms Program, Aurecon

Architecting a future-ready data ecosystem

The Insights solution that was architected, designed, and built by Slalom is a greenfield serverless data platform on Microsoft Azure that uses a lakehouse architecture with these services:

Azure Synapse Analytics
Azure Data Lake storage
Power BI Service

A scalable metadata-driven data pipeline ingests data from Workday and Microsoft Dynamics 365, making sure that information in the data lakehouse is current and complete.

“Our partnership with Aurecon has gone from strength to strength, and we’re proud to have supported the build of a future-facing data platform, using modern cloud services that can provide insights faster, with higher quality information.”

— Dan Watts, Sales Executive, Slalom

Slalom also helped Aurecon establish the internal capability and skills required to run the platform and build on the foundation by adding new services over time.

A resilient foundation for empowered decision-making

The Insights data platform will help Aurecon unlock the strategic value of its data as staff continue to leverage more of this critical asset in the future.

Team members now have a source of truth that they can access securely, trust, and build on. Easy access to current and complete information means avoiding costly errors or poor decisions based on gut instinct. Executives can operate the company more effectively, ensuring that Aurecon’s designers, engineers, scientists, and advisors are empowered to support vital building projects that impact millions.

“We didn’t want order-takers. We wanted to onboard someone that we could build a long-term partnership with, who would push and challenge us along the way. That’s what we got with Slalom.”