Data Engineering

Group Data Platform for Multi-Entity Organization Using Snowflake and dbt

The Situation

A private equity-backed software group with multiple HR and payroll business units operating independently on different CRM and ERP systems needed to consolidate group-level reporting and analytics. Each subsidiary had its own systems, making cross-company analysis difficult and preventing leadership from answering basic questions about churn or customer trends across the group.

  • Subsidiaries operated on different platforms (NetSuite, Salesforce) with no consolidated data layer
  • The group could not report consistently across business units; basic metrics required asking each unit separately
  • A new group BI function was being established with no centralized data foundation
  • Leadership was evaluating multiple competing data platforms but lacked independent technical guidance
  • The organization needed a setup that would support potential future demergers or unit divestitures

What We Did

We provided independent, objective platform assessments and guidance to help the organization evaluate competing vendor pitches and select the right foundation, then delivered a unified data platform designed for multi-entity complexity while preserving the ability to easily demerge or divest individual business units.

  • Conducted independent platform evaluation and recommended Snowflake, Fivetran and dbt based on engineering rigor and governance capabilities
  • Built a multi-account Snowflake architecture with separate dbt and DevOps projects per business unit to enable future demergers
  • Set up Fivetran connections across disparate systems to consolidate sales and marketing data
  • Worked with each business unit to define and model key performance indicators, discovering that definitions varied by unit and billing model
  • Created a two-layer Power BI workspace design: separate data models for governance plus thin reports for broad stakeholder access
  • Built dashboards that are reviewed regularly by board leadership with consistent visibility into group metrics
  • Provided coaching and templates to the client's distributed development team

Results

The group now has a unified data platform with consistent reporting across business units, enabling leadership to answer cross-unit questions without manual coordination. Board-level dashboards provide visibility into key metrics and are reviewed regularly by senior management. The organization has also decommissioned a legacy ETL tool in favor of a modern stack with version control, lineage and dependency management built in.

  • Unified platform deployed across multiple business units in approximately seven months
  • Separate per-unit KPI models created where definitions genuinely differed by business model
  • Board-level dashboards reviewed regularly by leadership with explicit stakeholder engagement
  • Client migrated from legacy ETL tooling to a modern platform with engineering discipline
  • Platform architecture designed to support easy demerger or divestiture of individual business units
  • Developer team gained Power BI templates and best-practice approaches
  • The unified platform positioned the organization to pursue additional data initiatives, including master data management and analytics expansion, building on a proven foundation

What This Unlocks

If your organization is a multi-entity group, particularly one where business units operate independently or might be divested in the future, this architecture applies directly. The approach shown here works for any organization consolidating data across multiple business units, CRM or ERP systems, or geographies. By designing your platform with demerger readiness in mind from the start, you avoid expensive re-architecture when a business unit is sold or spun off. Unit-by-unit KPI modeling lets you keep business-specific definitions while still enabling cross-unit comparison at the group level. Most importantly, this foundation positions your leadership team for board-level visibility and faster decision-making through consistent, trust-worthy data across the entire group.

Team

A full-stack delivery team combined data architecture and engineering with analytics and governance expertise, working closely with client stakeholders across distributed business units to define requirements and deliver a platform designed for both complexity and long-term flexibility.

Back to Snowflake Use Cases
SnowflakedbtFivetrandata consolidationmulti-entity architecturePower BIdata governancegroup reportingdemerger architectureenterprise data platform

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