About the Client
A decades old water technologies company reinvented itself for the digital age with Microsoft Azure advanced analytics and transformed field-equipment data into valuable insights for customers. The company utilizes this same data intelligence throughout its organization; in particular, its field service team uses data-driven insights in combination with Microsoft Dynamics 365 to recommend new services while onsite with customers by providing water purification and management solutions—filtrations, separation, disinfection, technologies, and service.
Business Challenge
- Instead of taking readings on customer water flow once a day, the company wanted to take them continuously and surface that data to customers in a real-time dashboard.
- Use data analytics as a competitive differentiator in an increasingly commoditized business.
The Solution
Solutions Implemented
- Microsoft Azure infrastructure and analytics services, Power BI for data visualization, Dynamics 365 for managing customer and field data, and Office 365 for productivity.
- A technology foundation for gathering real-time data from the equipment installed at customer sites was built which resulted in thousands of data points pouring into the database every minute from equipment's all over the globe.
- In brief, field device data comes into Azure, where it’s added to a central data repository and analyzed in real-time by Azure HDInsight. From there the data is placed in Azure SQL Data Warehouse, where it’s available for business intelligence queries and graphical insight delivery using Power BI Embedded.
- he customer portal mentioned earlier (built using Azure Web Apps and Power BI) provided customers with a wider view of their relationship with the company.
Business Benefits
- Within a year, the company had all 3,000 employees using Office 365 for communications and collaboration, and it had a good start on its field data infrastructure
- The company had set up key line-of-business applications in Azure and had created a customer portal in Azure
- By pulling data from its entire water landscape, they were able to gain insights on the performance of all its equipment, compare each customer’s equipment performance to the larger groups, and pass insights and recommendations onto customers.
- Better service to customers, minimizing disruption to their water flow and building a long-term future with them.
- Automated service tech dispatching, improved product designs, and lower manufacturing costs will yield savings across the board
