Case Studies
Private Sector
GSK
Enhancing analytics of medical data
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) had brought in a new analysis tool and needed to amalgamate data from two existing Oracle 8 databases within a tight timeframe. The existing databases were distributed internationally, being used by separate business groups, and each holding 200-300Mb of medical trial data; the database structure was particularly complex on account of the nature of the data, as well as the application integration with other databases across the company.
Working as part of a collaborative team including GSK IT staff from the US and UK, and Microsoft in the UK, we successfully undertook database design, development and migration (including mapping), production data migration, and then finally issue management and resolution.
Helping Argos catalogue its data
Improving access to hundreds of thousands of products
Argos approached Datalynx, seeking help with the creation of a multimedia database of their printed and website catalogues. They needed a database they could use for all media channels, including the printed catalogue and website. This would improve the management of the information, and significantly improve website users’ experience.
One of the key challenges was that each product had significant attributes (such as: weight, fill volume, wattage, colour etc.) originally stored in free text with each supplier recording this their own way. Argos needed these significant attributes to be identified for each product category, a categorisation scheme created, and the entire catalogue converted into a structured database.
LynxETL, Datalynx’s own product, is ideal for large-scale data migration projects. We used it to create an entity extraction and standardisation solution that processed the free text and identified the common attributes for each product. After validation of these product attributes by an Argos specialist, we processed the data into a structured form for publication to the multi-media database. To ensure the quality of the machine-generated categories and subsequent converted data, a business review was required at each stage. We produced and hosted a framework to allow Argos staff to process the catalogue, review and publish it to the database. This hosted service provided enhanced security and faster access, all with no additional Argos infrastructure.
The catalogue was successfully categorised, converted and loaded to the multimedia database. Our work significantly improved the Argos website search capability, making searches for products quicker and easier, thereby improving customer experience.
MUFG Pension and Market Services
Link Market Services (a division of MUFG) needed to amalgamate three core systems, and then migrate all the data onto a new platform. One of the systems was the main share registration service; the data was highly complex and information security was critical.
Datalynx provided an end-to-end migration solution. Initial discovery informed a strategy and approach, which involved needing to make the data consistent across the three different platforms, as well as conducting quality assessments and de-duplication of data before any migration. We subsequently designed, built and tested a solution before executing, and provided post-migration quality assurance and reconciliation reports to complete the project successfully.