Case study · Interim Data Architect
How an interim Data Architect saved a major rail and bus operator £200,000 on EA tooling
A major rail and bus operator wanted to hire an interim Data Architect, but they were unsure of the key deliverables the role needed to produce. They knew data and integration needed fixing across the group. What they did not yet know was what "fixed" looked like, or what an architect should be measured against.
Client
Major rail and bus operator
Sector
Transport: Bus and Rail
Duration
Six months, March to September 2024
Architecture resource
Interim Data Architect
The challenge
One group, many data platforms, and a programme waiting to start
The operator's IT function planned to build a central shared service providing data platform and integration services to its Bus and Rail businesses. The aim was to improve data quality, management, security and governance across the group, and to put the business in a position to take real advantage of AI.
Data maturity was low. Several maturity assessments had already been completed, and each business unit ran its own mix of technologies, including AWS, Snowflake, Microsoft Azure, and SAP BW and BO. A number of teams had mapped parts of the landscape, but nobody had brought it together, and GenAI proofs of value were waiting in the wings.
Before committing to a multi-year programme, the Group Director of Strategy and Architecture needed answers to some fundamental questions:
- One data and integration platform for Bus and Rail, or separate ones?
- Which components come native with the platform, and which need a specialist vendor, for example Microsoft Purview versus a dedicated MDM solution?
- If more than one data platform is needed, what is shared and what is specific to each?
- Which capabilities should the operator own internally, and which should sit with third parties?
Our approach
Defining the role before filling it
Rather than recruit against a vague job description, we worked with the operator to define exactly what the interim Data Architect had to deliver.
A consolidated as-is map of data, integration and AI technologies, core data entities, integration points, data movement costs and suppliers- A target architecture for data, integration and AI, built around the operator's future AI adoption
- Clear recommendations on the platform questions above
- The IT capabilities and key roles the shared service would need
- A year-one roadmap with dependencies
With the deliverables agreed, Konvergent placed an interim Data Architect to work alongside the Group Director of Strategy and Architecture, and the engagement ran from March to September 2024.
The result
A target architecture, and a tool they did not need to buy
The operator got its target data architecture, its platform decisions and a prioritised roadmap for year one.
The mapping still needed a home, and the usual answer would have been an enterprise architecture tool at around £100,000 a year. Instead, our Data Architect took Konvergent's own application portfolio management (APM) tool and rebuilt it in Power BI, which the operator already owned and already knew how to use.
Two years on it is still in use, which means around £200,000 has stayed in the budget rather than going on licences.
a year in EA tool licensing avoided
saved to date, with the Power BI tool still in use
Looking for an interim Data Architect?
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Ben Clark · bclark@konvergent.co.uk