The Momentum Group, wholly owned by the FirstRand Group and the largest IBM AS/400 site in the Southern Hemisphere, has embarked on a project to integrate its client data into one data warehouse. At the heart of this project is Ascential DataStage, which Momentum has implemented, in conjunction with GBI, at a cost of R1.2 million.
Craig Atkinson, head of client and product solutions at Momentum, says the company realised it needed the ability to gain more knowledge from the huge amount of stored client data it held. To facilitate the process of taking data and transforming it into information and from there into business knowledge, the financial institution would need to extract data from four AS/400 systems and integrate it all into one data warehouse - without redundancy or incorrect data - for bulk analysis. And all this without affecting the daily operations of the company.
"While there are many product package deals available offering integration and analysis functionality, we needed a product that would first assist in getting the data into a single database, from where we could examine and understand it. We would then be in a position to engage our users to find out exactly what information they required, in what format, and more," Atkinson says.
"Part of this process involved finding the right partner that would see us through the implementation phase and empower our people to support the product after the installation. Momentum`s policy is to use third-party companies where necessary, but not to be reliant on them."
The solution the group decided on was DataStage from Centerfield Software, the local Ascential distributor. "DataStage is used in other FirstRand companies, so the decision to use it was simplified as we could examine the results of similar projects in the group," Atkinson continues.
In support of the decision to use DataStage, Julian Field, MD of Centerfield Software, says: "DataStage is the industry`s most scalable extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) solution with end-to-end metadata management and data quality assurance functions."
The partner selected for the project was GBI, Centerfield`s largest value-added reseller in SA. "Momentum knew GBI would deliver the goods, share the knowledge and then leave - or at least make our services available only when needed," says GBI CEO Marc Scheepbouwer. "Our task was to spec the job and do it, keeping the financial house`s staff informed on our progress throughout the process."
The flat structure at Momentum means the project sponsor is also the user.
GBI therefore had direct access to the people it was implementing the system for. Atkinson additionally notes that GBI was chosen because its attitude matched the Momentum culture of accountability. "We like our people to take ownership of projects and get them done - no frills or procrastination."
There was therefore no time for a six-month specification process or lengthy consulting period. GBI was given the task to complete, access to all the appropriate people and set about implementing DataStage.
Data from the first two platforms, AWD and a custom client-interaction system, were transferred in the initial phase - the task undertaken by GBI and Momentum staff. The process was a success because GBI had permanent staff onsite to ensure that any problems and queries were resolved immediately, without having to wait for external (offsite) parties to assist. "We can now see our clients in terms of their value, the products they have as well as their interaction with Momentum," Atkinson explains. "This is already a major step ahead of our visibility before the project began."
Momentum has 1 400 people with access to its current front-end business intelligence (BI) tool. However, Atkinson says the data warehouse has been designed in such a way as to cater for any interface users may require.
"Simplicity is key for Momentum and they have ensured that the data warehouse will deliver client and policy information with push-button ease to whichever front-end the company decides on," adds Scheepbouwer.
The second phase of the project, integrating the third platform, is in process at the moment with GBI again at the helm. Momentum staff will handle the final phase as the skills transfer process will be completed in phase two.
Atkinson says the monthly data warehouse updating process is also becoming easier as staff learn more about the system and are able to fine tune it. "The first update took 23 hours, the latest one only six."
After one month of operation, the database was already twice the size initially expected. It is being hosted on an NT server and depending on final size and access requirements, it may remain on NT or move onto an AS/400.
Although the final phase of the integration project has yet to be started, Momentum has already experienced benefits of consistency. Atkinson explains: "All areas of the company have one, certified set of data to use for reporting. There can no longer be discrepancies from using different data sources as the data warehouse contains the latest, clean information readily available to users."
He adds that DataStage has beaten all informed forecasts of its functionality and effectiveness. "The main issues we were concerned about at the start of the project was the time to value and the costs. DataStage has managed to deliver beyond our expectations on both accounts."
Share
Editorial contacts