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Learn MoreA Fast but Thorough Data Platform Migration
Starting as a modest family business over 125 years ago, PON has come a long way but, through many changes and lots of growth, they have remained true to their mission of moving people to a better world. The global conglomerate based in the Netherlands offers mobility products, services, and solutions across seven different major activity categories and, in order to manage and deliver these robust offerings, employs approximately 16,500 individuals in 65 different countries. As it turns out, moving people to a better world is no small feat and the data accumulated along the way through these processes is, as you may have guessed, exponentially vast.
The 7 Activity Areas Migrated in 3 Weeks
- Automotive
- Bikes
- Equipment and Power Systems
- Industrial Mobility
- Agriculture Products and Services
- Ponooc (A Venture Capital Fund)
- Move Amsterdam (Experience and Exhibition)
PON’s previous, restrictive code-only platform did not offer the foundation or flexibility that these expansive offerings and their heavy data influx required. Therefore, a migration to the more accessible, collaborative, and powerful environment of Dataiku was a natural and essential next step to support the organization as it continues to scale.
Some of the use cases across these activities that are now managed with Dataiku include but are not limited to client churn prediction analysis, stock management, advanced product analytics, warranty claim detection, website personalization, and customer lifecycle analysis.
PON’s Precursory Steps for Successful Migration
When asked about the keys to their successful transformation, PON points out three fundamental factors:
- Not remaining in an exclusive data team huddle and reaching out to different teams (more on this below)
- Identifying high-value projects and choosing a platform that caters specifically to top-priority business objectives and needs across the organization
- Making decisions by trying to predict potential pitfalls that will need to be addressed
Before migrating they asked around about the varying needs of individuals across the organization beyond the data science team: business unit directors, cloud specialists, privacy/security officers, field engineers, etc. These various stakeholders made lists of must-haves and want-to-haves that they desired in a platform. And after determining which of their requests served the long-term visions of the organization, PON was able to choose the platform that best fit those varying needs and skills — Dataiku. After choosing the right platform, the next step was to figure out where on the maturity curve PON resided in order to know exactly what training and changes would be needed. Dataiku offers resources and support that help organizations identify their maturity level.
Following the maturity assessment was the process of deciding where to direct focus by listing out each offering and scoring the products and services by priority and estimated impact. PON also took special care to pinpoint high-risk areas. By doing this, they allowed themselves the ability to evaluate and adjust migration stages, proactively addressing possible pitfalls.
PON efficiently and effectively transformed their data processes by setting aside time to dedicate to these crucial steps.
Not Stopping There — Learning and Growth Continues
PON hasn’t stopped moving forward after migrating. Teams across the organization are involved in continued training programs on new Dataiku functions, workshops on MLOps, and collaborative working sessions with Dataiku experts to discover, understand, and apply advanced analytics tools. Through this sustained learning, the organization is able to address business problems across all seven growing business areas with the latest available solutions.