TUC RAIL is an engineering and project management office specialised in rail infrastructure, mainly working for the Build Department of rail infrastructure manager INFRABEL. They have a focus on project management of large infrastructure programs, carrying out feasibility studies and drawing up technical plans.
TUC RAIL decided to follow a cloud-first strategy. Part of this strategy is to renew its existing applications and platforms in order to move them to the cloud. The company already had a Business Intelligence platform in place but lacked the scalability and agility that was needed. Moreover, not all the data was included in the existing BI platform. Rather, data was spread out, stored in silos and scattered across different platforms. BI reporting was thus based on a limited data set, which contributed to data inaccuracies.
Legacy platform hindered agility and accurate data analysis
TUC RAIL values the power of data, however, the existing BI platform was not robust enough to handle the technology of newer applications (API, XML, JSON, etc.). Other complications arose such as complicating factors such as data storage limitations and processing power. Furthermore, the self-service Business Intelligence solution was difficult to maintain because it did not include the required applications to enable independent report set-up.
TUC RAIL understood that they should redesign and redevelop the architecture of the Business Intelligence platform to improve data integrations, resolve ongoing compatibility issues and increase agility.
“We were struggling where to start and wanted to avoid large investments and long running projects. But then an opportunity occurred with Devoteam and Microsoft.”
Updating the existing platform was not an easy task taking the complexity of the data landscape into account. TUC RAIL decided to rely on the consultations and the collaboration with Devoteam to make the correct decisions on prioritizing the project action schedule and the investments that were needed.
Setting up the right cloud architecture
To streamline TUC RAIL’s existing IT landscape and facilitate the transition towards a fully integrated and agile BI platform, Devoteam brought a strategic partnership with Microsoft to the table.
In the initial phase, Devoteam and Microsoft set up a PoC that gave TUC RAIL a clear view of the scope and outcome of the project.
The architectural design, and the technical aspects of the platform were co-created piece by piece with Devoteam and the BI team of TUC RAIL. Together they developed a data platform in the cloud that matched TUC RAIL’s requirements, without losing sight of the budget and timing.
Devoteam assisted TUC RAIL with the development of a future-proof data platform with state-of-the-art automations. The new platform is compatible with modern technologies and can rapidly convert data formats and structures to improve efficiency.
Becoming data-driven and agile thanks to future-proof data platform
Now, management of TUC RAIL has access to dashboards with actual and reliable information, which helps them to make better decisions. The platform is also more user-friendly for employees. The self-service Business Intelligence platform allows them to set up dashboards based on real-time data. This helps to share and communicate information based on accurate reports.
“We are tremendously satisfied with the success of the project. We are now more agile, future-proof, data-driven and compatible with new technologies.”
The data platform can easily integrate with other platforms and store large amounts of data from different sources in real-time. This makes it easier to retrieve and complete datasets and generates substantial wins in terms of operational efficiency.
The central cloud platform is both expandable and scalable, which will significantly reduce the lead time of future integrations. The data platform is also ready to set up future Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence initiatives. This creates opportunities for innovative projects and data experiments.
Thanks to the good collaboration with Devoteam and thanks to the use of Microsoft technology, TUC RAIL has now become a real data-driven organisation with agile and efficient processes.
