Customer's Challenge
One of the largest lawncare manufactures in the US was having trouble gaining analytics insights from their SAP data. They needed a way to move their data into a modern data platform with advanced analytics capabilities.
phData's Solution
phData created a proof of concept pipeline using SNP Glue to replicate SAP ECC data to Snowflake, rebuilt data models for sales and order data, and worked to connect 2 Tableau dashboards to create a template to work off of for the rest of the SAP data.
Results
Following the engagement, the client had a fully functioning pipeline moving SAP data directly into Snowflake to not only be used on its own for analytics use cases, but able to be easily joined with data from other sources to gain even more valuable insights. With an SAP data pipeline template in place, they were able to utilize the knowledge and best practices that phData provided them to move the rest of their SAP data into Snowflake.
The Full Story
Anyone who utilizes SAP knows it can be difficult to work with; one of the leading lawn care manufacturers was facing the same issue. They were running into performance constraints with SAP’s storage and compute limitations while attempting to create analytics dashboards. Making matters worse, they were finding it almost impossible to marry other data sources with SAP to extract deeper analytics insights and build a foundation for AI. They needed someone with expertise to help alleviate their issues and get the insights they required out of their data; they needed phData.
phData proposed moving its data into a centralized data warehouse on Snowflake to take advantage of its advanced analytics capabilities. They suggested creating a POC data pipeline that, if successful, could be used as a template for moving the rest of their SAP data to Snowflake. Once agreed upon, phData went to work right away with a multi-faceted plan. To set the foundation for the endeavor, they needed to:
- Collaborate with the client team to fully understand the current data model
- Set up an SNP Glue pipeline to move the required tables to Snowflake
- Import sales flat files using Snowpipe for additional data
- Translate the model’s ABAP routines to Snowflake SQL
- Optimize queries while creating a medallion architecture
- Recreate semantic models in Snowflake for Tableau
- Once the models were created, point two Tableau dashboards to Snowflake
In just 5 short weeks, phData was able to provide all of these deliverables along with documentation, knowledge transfer to the client, and the means to talk to the data in Snowflake’s Cortex chatbot.
Why phData?
When it came time to choose a partner to help with their SAP issues, the leading lawncare manufacturer wanted more than just technical capabilities—they needed deep, proven expertise with the very platforms at the heart of their project. phData stood out immediately, not simply because of their knowledge of Snowflake, but with their extensive experience with SAP, the client knew they were in the right hands.
phData offers unparalleled expertise in data engineering, especially with the modern data stack tools involved, and the client wanted to know that they had someone who could do it right.
Reference Diagram
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