As a passionate data analyst with a keen interest in treks and expeditions, I’ve always valued the power of navigation - in nature and in business. The ability to orient oneself, identify the right path, and keep moving in the right direction is as crucial in business as it is in trekking. But unlike the pre-GPS era where compasses and paper maps were the go-to, today’s businesses need advanced, real-time, and precision-oriented data mapping. This article is a case study of how I transformed a nearly century-old European company’s analytics workflow into a state-of-the-art digital Decision Support System using Microsoft’s PowerBI.

Dive straight into the interactive demo dashboard to see how data can drive business decisions, or scroll down to explore the project journey.

The Challenge

The company was relying on costly, time-consuming reporting infrastructure with disparate systems across business lines. The lack of coherence and automation in data pipelines was a significant impediment to the company’s performance and strategic execution. It was akin to navigating without a GPS-enabled digital map.

The Solution 💡

Drawing on my skills in business acumen, cross-functional leadership, and data integration, I conceived a flexible Business Intelligence and Data Visualization tool that would solve these challenges. PowerBI, with its easy integration into Microsoft’s ecosystem, was the chosen solution.

The Execution

Stakeholder management was a critical aspect of this project, with teams working in silos, diverse internal functional organizations, and multiple external vendors. I took a strong and comprehensive Proof of Concept (POC) approach to get buy-in from all stakeholders, eventually leading end-to-end development, production deployment, and company-wide training.

The Outcome 🚀

The BI solution led to an operational efficiency increase that spanned all key business functions. The strategy was to surface direct and actionable insights targeting high-value areas with the most ROI. This led to a 10% YoY increase in product marketing campaign performance, reversed downward sales trends in key regions, and improved key account conversion rates by 5%.

Through this project, I leveraged my technical acumen and leadership skills to deliver a solution that brought tangible business value. As I look to expand my career into more leadership-focused roles, I am excited about the opportunity to use data-driven solutions to help businesses navigate their path to success.

Experience the Solution

To better understand the thought and effort behind the design, interact with the DEMO report.

* Best viewed on desktop or laptop

Pro tip: Click on any graph element (like Bars) & use Ctrl+Click or Cmd+Click (Mac) to multi-select. Combine filters on top with Ctrl+click on graph elements. View in full-screen and explore all 5 pages.