Digital leader thanks to thoughtful data strategy, roadmap and implementation

Secondment agency Maandag^® does not hide its ambition: to become a digital leader. However, the presence of a legacy warehouse and poor data quality hindered its transformation into a data-driven organization. After an extensive analysis, Cegeka and Maandag^® drew up a data strategy, which is now leading to successful data applications. We also advised on data governance, set up a data platform and migrated data. And all in close cooperation. 

Leader in the data field 

Maandag^® is a fast-growing secondment agency that puts more than 4,000 ambitious professionals to work every day. The company itself also has plenty of ambitions. Like striving - even more - to become a digital leader. Data plays a crucial role in this.   

Bart Manintveld, manager data analytics at Maandag^®: "We wanted to get more out of web and app data, especially for ROI optimization of online channels and better digital matching between vacancies and candidates. Our data warehouse at the time, an on-prem SQL server, was causing a lot of problems and absolutely could not handle all the digital ambitions. So we had to move to a scalable, easily adaptable and future-proof warehouse in the cloud with separate development and production environments." 

Looking from Maandag^®'s perspective  

So Maandag^® was on the eve of a major data transformation. Manintveld decided that it needed a partner who could not only set up a data platform, but who was also able to help think about strategy for the next three - four years. What use cases are valuable? What is needed in terms of data for that? And how can Maandag^® use data strategically to stay ahead of the competition?  

"Cegeka's plan and vision really appealed to us," says Manintveld, who leads a team of just under 10 business intelligence (BI) specialists. "The proposal was understandable, concrete, no-nonsense and free of buzzwords. The consultants came across as very down-to-earth and a good cultural fit with my team. Moreover, they really looked at it from a Maandag^® perspective, without pushing certain products." 

“Cegeka's greatest added value? Gathering input from the entire organization. The consultants not only knew how to quickly understand our business, context, goals, opportunities and challenges, but also how to adequately incorporate them into a data strategy that seamlessly matched that”  

 

BART MANINTVELD, MANAGER OF DATA ANALYTICS AT MAANDAG^®

Exploring every aspect of data transformation 

Cegeka has extensive experience in transforming to data-driven organizations. Depending on the client's requirements, the approach can cover everything from A to Z. From initiation, analysis, advice and strategy to implementation, adoption and support. Whichever components an organization chooses: Cegeka always focuses on the whole organization: people, process & technology.  

Solid data strategy: the bottom line first 
At Maandag^® there was a strong emphasis on the data strategy. After defining the scope and planning and a kick-off with all stakeholders, Maandag^® and Cegeka - in close cooperation - started the analysis and advice phase. In order to be able to formulate the data strategy, it was necessary to figure out what the secondment provider needs in terms of data in order to realize its objectives and strategy. 

The analysis included the following aspects: 

1. Interviews with Maandag^®'s stakeholders, including the CEO and CCO. What are the departments already doing with data, what do they want to achieve and what bottlenecks are getting in the way of their ambition to become digital leaders? 
2. Analysis of relevant documentation to distill business objectives, strategic points and relevant contextual information, for example. 
3. A thorough technical analysis conducted by a Cegeka architect, who assessed various aspects including identification of technical bottlenecks.
4. A technical workshop to gather information, to involve all those involved in the new data story and to ensure that everyone knows what the goal is and what their role is.   

The road to data excellence 

The extensive analysis formed the input for a data strategy document, an advisory report and a data map. The data strategy document looks at the current and future positioning towards data from the axes people, process & technology.  

The bottlenecks identified are the basis for the recommendations in the advisory report. This sets out how the components data platform, BI, data governance and advanced analytics will ensure that Maandag^® can excel thanks to data. The roadmap includes all objectives, resources, steps to be taken and milestones. Finally, the implementation plan zoomed in on the question: how will Maandag^® and Cegeka realize the transformation? 

“Both the plan and Cegeka's approach were understandable and no-nonsense. The consultants really looked from the Maandag^® perspective, without pushing certain products.” 

 

BART MANINTVELD, MANAGER OF DATA ANALYTICS AT MAANDAG^®

‘Immediate enthausiasm from management’ 

Cegeka connected all these visions and ideas and processed them into advice and a strategy that fitted well with the business goals of Maandag^®. Manintveld then presented everything to the management of Maandag^®.

 "The board members were immediately very enthusiastic and agreed that this was the intended direction for the coming years. One thing that certainly helped was that the board was interviewed by Cegeka. That way you create support and you can test whether they really see data as an instrument for future-proofing," says Manintveld. 

Implementation is handled partialy in-house

Maandag^®'s biggest bottleneck was data quality. Users were regularly identifying incorrect information in systems or dashboards.  

 Manintveld: "We had agreed that Maandag^® would take on the implementation of the data governance part itself. After Cegeka helped us set up programs for master data management and data quality, we implemented all the measures ourselves. The same goes for version management and separating the development and production environments. Cegeka provided advice and training, after which we started working with Git ourselves." 

Smooth data migration  

The design and setting up of a data platform was done together by Maandag^® and Cegeka. This included the migration to the Azure data platform, explains Manintveld: "Two consultants spent several months on my team for this. What made the migration extra complex: we were also acquiring several companies at the time. All that data had to be integrated. Fortunately, that went smoothly; Cegeka has a lot of expertise in this area." 

A lot of tangible results  

The transformation project with Cegeka has led to a lot of tangible results, the data analytics manager notes with satisfaction. "There is now a solid approach for the coming years, there is support within the management for the data transformation, my team has learned an incredible amount from the Cegeka consultants and we have our data governance in order. Our data is now high enough to deploy use cases such as digital matching." 

Added value mainly in input  

Manintveld: "Cegeka's added value was mainly in gaining input from different parts of the organization. They looked at all facets of our organization and quickly understood our business, goals, opportunities and challenges. Also very nice was the aftercare. One consultant worked on our team for another four months, mainly to transfer knowledge. Often projects like this drag on for ages, but in just under a year we got everything done. I'm quite proud of that."

“My team worked so closely with Cegeka that it felt like we were one team. Illustrative is the 'team outing' we all did together afterwards.” 

 

BART MANINTVELD, MANAGER OF DATA ANALYTICS AT MAANDAG^®

Acting as one team  

Manintveld looks back on the cooperation with great satisfaction: "The data team of Maandag^® and Cegeka were like one team. The consultants were very involved, which made them feel like colleagues. In conclusion, we celebrated the success with a 'team outing', which consisted of a boxing clinic and dinner."