Success Story
See how a rapidly growing non-profit organization is scaling for growth and improving business operations to better serve Oregon’s care providers and public sector workers.
Challenge
RISE’s tremendous growth over the last few years was putting a strain on internal information systems that hadn’t been built to scale. Staff productivity was drained as data team members struggled to resolve issues across the 12K worker records they received daily from different state and agency systems.
Solution
Data Clymer helped RISE quickly deploy a modern data stack that would enable them to scale for growth without IT restrictions. The stack includes a Snowflake Data Cloud platform, a Matillion instance for data integration and transformation, and easy-to-use Sigma dashboards for visualizations and reporting.
Outcomes
Scalable, cloud-based architecture supports rapid organizational growth
20% time savings frees up data team to better serve business programs
Improved reporting and data reliability empowers strategic decision-making
Cost savings through Data Clymer's all-in-one "Data to Insights" package
The Full Story
Scaling Information Systems for Growth
RISE Partnership delivers training, education, and benefit navigation to care providers and public sector workers across Oregon. Named one of the state’s top workplaces in 2022, the organization has seen tremendous growth over the last few years. Its employee base has skyrocketed from less than 10 employees to over 100, and hiring continues across its service programs.
RISE’s growth was putting a strain on internal information systems that hadn’t been built to scale. Multiple state agencies relied on the information to verify worker training and certification, so maintaining data quality and trust was vital.
Building for a Bright Future
Nathan Beil, Director of IT Systems, had been an IT leader for nearly a decade when he joined RISE. Nathan and his team of five are responsible for all technology solutions to multiple independent lines of business, corporate functions, and business services.
Nathan knew that scaling for growth would require an overhaul of RISE’s data architecture, infrastructure, and tooling. The data team was relying on Salesforce and ran a local SQL environment for processing.
“Salesforce has been the default because there was nothing else,” Nathan explained. “We needed a better architecture that went with a modern data stack to help move the business forward.”
Behind the Data Team’s Challenges
No single source of truth
One of the data team’s goals was to create a master record and unique identifier for each worker record. But unfortunately, getting to a single source of truth was more complicated than it seemed.
All the state agencies and organizations used different systems. Duplicate records required a RISE team member to analyze the data, track down verification, and update the system. A lack of clear data ownership made this effort even more time-consuming.
Staff productivity drained
One senior data manager was spending 20% of his time on operational tasks that should have been automated, yet he was the only one who could address them. The rest of the team was similarly bogged down.
Meanwhile, RISE continued to grow in leaps and bounds. With 12,000 records coming on a daily basis, it was impossible to manage the rapidly increasing volume of data.
"The need to recover staff time became more apparent every day. I knew we’d see a cost savings if we could free up the team’s time so they could focus on more business critical tasks and be able to provide better service to our programs.”
—Nathan Beil, Director of IT Systems
Implementing a Modern Data Stack
RISE was eager to shift from manual data efforts to an automated system that could scale along with the company. Nathan and his team conducted a comprehensive tool evaluation and decided to deploy:
- Snowflake as a cloud data platform
- Matillion for data ingestion and transformation
- Sigma for analytics and data visualization
Nathan turned to Data Clymer for help managing the complex deployment. Data Clymer is a full-service data consulting firm with decades of deep expertise across RISE’s selected data stack. The partnership enabled RISE to tap into a team of highly skilled solution architects, data engineers, analytics engineers, and a hands-on project manager.
“We needed things done right and done quickly, which is why we called Data Clymer. Matillion, Snowflake, and Sigma work well together, but Data Clymer is the glue that holds all of them together.”
—Nathan Beil, Director of IT Systems
Data Clymer: Rapid Deployment and Proven Expertise
Data Clymer guided RISE through a critical phase of their data journey. The rapid deployment included:
- A modern data stack setup
- Data ingestion and integration of data sources
- Building custom connectors to RISE’s Learning Management System
- Data modeling and dashboarding
Nathan commented, “We’ve seen value not just through Data Clymer taking the initial work off of our plate, but through the guidance and expertise of helping navigate the process. Having somebody who knows the platforms well and can help us set this up for the future has made a huge difference.”
"With Data Clymer, we’re getting everything set up once the right way.”
—Nathan Beil, Director of IT Systems
Cost Savings
RISE was also able to take advantage of cost savings with the Data to Insights package. The joint offering between Data Clymer, Snowflake, Matillion, and Sigma is designed to help organizations quickly deploy a cloud data stack.
The “Data to Insights” package includes:
- Dedicated data engineering assistance from Data Clymer
- Access to the Snowflake Data Cloud platform
- A Matillion instance to integrate data with Snowflake and perform powerful data transformations
- Easy-to-use Sigma dashboards for visualizations and reporting
Nathan commented, “We liked that Matillion had a strong integration with Snowflake, and the pay per use model was hugely beneficial. And we definitely saw a cost savings through the Data to Insights package. Having a complete solution made the decision even easier.”
Looking Ahead
RISE now has a solid foundation in place that will set them up for the future. Scaling for growth without IT restrictions empowers the team to speed up strategic initiatives.
Nathan said, “There is no limit to the number of things we need to do and get done. To be able to move things forward instead of doing manual operational work is a big win. Instead of putting out fires, we’ll be able to look forward and provide better service to our programs.”
"Now we’ll have reliable data that business leaders can access for insights that they can turn into actionable strategies.”
—Nathan Beil, Director of IT Systems
