Case study: how a green energy startup used our architecture service to raise capital

A New Zealand based green energy start up was moving into a new growth phase and their data volumes were going to leap through the roof in the coming months. They reached out to us as they were aware their current data and analytics platform would not be able to cope, and they needed to move to a more modern platform. The CTO and CDO were from a more traditional Software Engineering and Warehousing backgrounds and wanted to know how such problems are solved using newer data and analytics technologies, what that would cost, what personnel would be required, how much capital they would need to raise in their next funding round.

Here at London Analytics, we're all about using the latest technology to make Data and Analytics platforms simpler and more scalable whilst still allowing you to achieve the most advanced outcomes.

we're all about using the latest technology to make Data and Analytics platforms simpler and more scalable whilst still allowing you to achieve the most advanced outcomes.

We were confident we could give them the exact design and advice for them to raise the required capital, hire the right people, and build a modern future-proof data and analytics platform.

The Engagement

The scope of the engagement consisted of:

• Review current architecture
• Review current use of technology
• Review current and future requirements
• Design target Data & Analytics architecture which can scale and deliver requirements for the next phase of the business
• Ensure design allows for enough flexibility to adapt to significant pivots in business model

The total length of the engagement was two weeks. The first week consisted of our principal architects speaking with all the stakeholders within the business to fully understand current and future requirements, current architecture and technology, current capabilities and in-house skills, timelines, and deadlines.

With the requirements gathering process completed, the second week consisted of our data architects and scientists designing a layered target data and analytics platform architecture to fulfill every requirement that had been agreed upon with the client.

The Solution

The target data and analytics architecture was delivered in the form of a report that consisted of the following sections:

• Architecture Overview
• Data Lake Architecture using AWS S3
• Data Warehouse Architecture using Snowflake
• ELT with External Sources
• ELT with Internal Sources
• How to partition data correctly
• Machine Learning Architecture with MLflow
• Data Science tools and processes
• B.I. Tools and integration
• Data Team
• Conclusion
• FAQs

The architecture was developed with daily feedback from key stakeholders and with full client visibility to ensure we were delivering exactly what was required and expected. With the vast experience we have in building data and analytics platforms in production, we were able to provide valuable implementation details to avoid problems that would usually only be learnt the hard way over months or even years. The architecture could be delivered in phases, one layer at a time, to allow the platform to start delivering immediate value and over time develop into a fully mature modern platform that can deliver more advanced features when the time comes.

The Results

Our target architecture report told the client what to build, how to build it, and which tools and people to use in order to be successful. The report could be given to a team of data engineers and scientists, and it will give them the exact blueprint to use in order to implement the platform. Our client was able to show the report to their investors during the next round of funding to justify raising an additional $150,000 for a data team to build the designed platform so the business can move on to the next stage of growth.

Summary

The service we provided allowed our client to:

• Raise an additional $150,000 from investors
• Have confidence they will be able to meet the next business challenge
• Clear path on how to build a data team and platform

As with all our clients, we still to this day remain in contact with our client to ensure they are progressing and to provide impartial advise during the development phase.