Keyrus

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive at a life sciences solutions company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Keyrus?

We wanted to use software solutions for business intelligence to use our data better. So we were looking for a partner to help us with that and implement dashboards for executive use.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Keyrus has helped us develop robust data models to make data analysis. They’ve worked in everything related to that, including data management and data analytics, using Tableau as their main tool for business intelligence.

What was the team composition? 

For this project, we’ve worked with five members of Keyrus’ team.

How did you come to work with Keyrus?

We initially found them through Tableau, but we’ve worked with Keyrus on previous projects related to customer data, so we decided to pull them into this project too.

How much have you invested in them?

So far, we’ve spent around $500,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working with them in February 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our partnership with Keyrus is great, and we enjoy working with them. They have quick turnaround times, are flexible, and listen to our feedback, which is very important. Overall, they’ve helped us in many different ways. 

How did Keyrus perform from a project management standpoint?

Keyrus has been able to stay close to the budget we initially agreed on despite the situations arising out of scope. Regarding communication and project management, we use Microsoft Teams and monday.com.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Keyrus’ ability to listen and understand their customers and products is one of their biggest strengths. They also have very open communication, and their expertise is very robust.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their quality is great, but there’s always room for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director at a digital media company in the health industry. We publish health-related content online. In our broader business, we work on health information, content, and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Keyrus?

We recently acquired a business unit that publishes health content, such as hospital and physician reviews. We needed to migrate this business unit from their legacy Salesforce instance to a new one. The project entailed migrating the instance and rewriting the entire experience because we wanted to clean up the old instance and make the new one more usable and effective.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Keyrus migrated one of our business units into a new Salesforce instance. They started with a discovery phase where they did several deep-dive sessions with our internal team to understand the business use case, how we wanted to use the system, and how to improve it from the legacy system. 

From there, Keyrus moved into the migration and implementation phase. They rebuilt the Salesforce instance from scratch and developed our requirements. Then, Keyrus moved into testing and launch. They also provided post-launch support. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with three main teammates from Keyrus: a lead engineer, a junior engineer, and an analyst. 

How did you come to work with Keyrus?

We found them through a referral from another business unit that had worked with Keyrus on a tableau project. Our other business unit gave us really good feedback about the team, and since our experiences with previous providers weren’t as strong, we decided to go with Keyrus. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $380,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2021, launched in July 2022, and then Keyrus provided post-launch support until October 2022. The team is still on call in case we need services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Our measures for Keyrus’ success were usability, adoption across the sales team, and efficiency in using the system. The legacy instance was built for another business, so many of its features weren’t relevant and caused bottlenecks. The new instance is really clean and purpose-built for our team, allowing us to move through the system more quickly and efficiently. The system also enables us to capture more quality data. 

How did Keyrus perform from a project management standpoint?

They met our deadline and stayed within our budget. We used Zoom to communicate and had regular check-ins a few times a week and ad-hoc meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Keyrus picked up on our business really quickly; they understood our use cases and were thoughtful about their recommendations. The team really took the time to understand our needs, going above and beyond. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Initially, they had a project manager on the engagement who only sat in on meetings and wasn’t super helpful. Therefore, some management tasks fell on our plate. However, they were awesome at tracking tasks on their side and following up with us. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as clear and specific about your requirements as possible. Keyrus is very good about running the discovery phase, so you should spend that time outlining your business needs and use cases.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of enterprise application and data services for a public transportation service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Keyrus?

We needed someone to implement an enterprise data warehouse containing all disparate data across our organization, so we can mine and utilize them for decision-making processes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Keyrus provides us with data warehouse and business intelligence project consulting services that started with a discovery phase to identify our business and technical needs. We then moved to the procurement phase where they helped document the scope of the project and necessary details required to publish a RFP seeking the services of an data warehouse and business intelligence implementation partner.

Currently we are in the implementation phase with the new implementation partner. Keyrus is providing us with project management and oversight for the entire process, making sure the solution implemented meets our needs.

What is the team composition?

We mainly work with a site engagement supervisor, project manager, business analyst, and data architect.

How did you come to work with Keyrus?

We evaluated several vendors through a bidding process and chose Keyrus because of their experience and proposal.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested about $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership with Keyrus started in October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They were able to conduct multiple interviews with different businesses across 18 departments successfully, so they can better analyze and utilize the information they’ve gathered to create a custom Data Warehouse strategy based on our needs and environment. They didn't try to shoehorn us into a cookie-cutter solution but leveraged their experience, knowledge and best practices to develop a roadmap for us.

How did Keyrus perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent from a project management perspective as they’ve consistently adhered to our schedule and budget so far. They’re very meticulous and detail-oriented in the development phase, which makes us very happy.

We typically communicate through Microsoft Teams, phone, and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We haven’t worked with any other vendor for this type of project but based on our experience, we’re very impressed with Keyrus’ responsiveness, attentiveness, and willingness to go above and beyond the scope of the project.

Moreover, they’re very thorough and they can easily explain complex concepts in a way we can understand, so their technical communication skills are very good. The quality of their work is also impressive, as their proactive approach allows them to ensure every detail of the project is taken care of.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing stands out so far, but we’re always providing feedback which they’ve used to continuously improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise potential customers to ensure that you're on the same page with the Keyrus by explaining your needs thoroughly and candidly including strengths, any weak points and challenges within your organization. This is so they can evaluate it fully and bring you the best possible solution customized for your business.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an IT manager at an international airport with over 1300 employees responsible for systems architecture and data technologies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Keyrus?

We hired Keyrus to help us first develop a roadmap and then help us implement a variety of data technologies.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to implement modern data solutions, a data warehouse, ETL and Business Intelligence platforms and help transform our organization to be more data-driven.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

An RFI process wet out detailing what we were trying to accomplish. Keyrus was chosen out of approximately 20 different vendors.

Describe the project in detail.

For the roadmap Keyrus interviewed our primary business units, inventoried our key systems, dove into the accuracy, accessibility and relevance of the data in them, and developed ideas around BI solutions that would deliver value to the organization. For the technologies Keyrus compared various solutions on the market and ascertained which ones would work best for our needs and budgets and then helped us acquire, install and configure them.

What was the team composition?

There were about a dozen people, a couple of project managers, and various data and IT professionals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our organization now has the technological foundations to enable us to become more data driven and a roadmap for trying to achieve that goal.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Collaboration was very effective. We were initially worried about that considering they were from a different state than us but it was not problematic at all and their teams travelled in person whenever necessary.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was particularly impressed with how they quickly understood our business and how data could help our business units. And of course they were incredibly knowledgeable in all aspects of data technology. Their team members were very personable and experts in their areas. I would highly recommend them for any work of this nature.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they really weren't lacking in any areas. Sometimes vendors usually have problems dealing with our stringent cybersecurity levels but these guys understood its importance and kept it front of mind when architecting our solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager of analytics and data architecture at a financial institution. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Keyrus?

A legacy data standards system had become a liability because it was difficult to change the code (e.g. it was expensive and time-consuming). So, we wanted to create something more configurable and closer to cost. For the new system, we bought the Alteryx tool. Keyrus served as our development capacity.

For background, we have published data standards for our member banks. Those data contracts prescribe how the banks should send us the data we require to make insurance determinations. Our legacy system checked the data’s quality against that standard. It would validate that the data they sent complied with our published standard. However, the legacy system was hard to change (e.g. it required us to bring in an external partner to make changes associated with adapting our data standard).

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was essentially loading a bunch of human-readable files full of financial information and generating exception reporting (e.g. if the information wasn’t compliant to our standard). Keyrus ended up doing a large percentage, if not all, of the development. 

Our company ran an RFP and ended up selecting Alteryx as the tool for our data quality checking. Keyrus took our .NET code with its rules and transformed it into the workflow using the Alteryx tool. They built on-spec and worked very closely with our internal business analysts and technical people. 

We did another project on the electronic payment side. It was related to our deposit insurance system that generates payment files. This consisted of simply producing the files that we required. We wanted to re-render payment files as electronically formatted data that would be compatible with direct deposit and bulk transfer. So, it converted our flat files into a recognizable form of e-payment.

What is the team composition?

For the first year, there were two developers working with us. I would qualify both of them as senior developers. Then, it went down to one person for the remaining 5–6 months. 

How did you come to work with Keyrus?

We researched online to find Keyrus. Then, we started with a proof of concept. After about six months, the proof of concept became viable, and we switched to full-blown production mode.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $500,000 in Canadian dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018, and the project ended in June of 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

This was one of our more successful projects at the company. They went above and beyond. 

We ended up with the fully-featured rules-checking engine we wanted. It’s now in production and in-use on a regular basis. The new system is about three times faster than the older system. It deals with complicated scenarios that the older system couldn’t handle. 

It’s been embraced by all the users, and it probably exceeded expectations. The stakeholders that use it aren’t technical people at all, and there have been no complaints. It’s also easier to change whenever we change our data standard. We can change it a lot faster than we’re used to with our legacy system. 

The workflow is top-shelf complexity — I don’t know if anyone else could have done it. For example, on forums, people with similar performance issues haven’t been able to come up with a solution. 

How did Keyrus perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always in direct contact with stakeholders using the system. They were remote, so we tracked the communication through Slack and used Skype when necessary. 

Keyrus’ developers were both very professional people. Our feedback from our primary stakeholder is nothing but positive about their working relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t have a bad thing to say about them. I never had to worry about the team. There were times when I wondered if it was achievable, but they would always figure it out. After a point in time, I knew they would do a good job. Also, they were able to estimate pretty quickly the effort involved for certain tasks. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t say that there is. There’s nothing significant enough. I had no problem with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Alteryx is a niche skillset. Anyone shopping around for it should know it’s hard to find qualified resources in the Alteryx space. Understanding the limitations of the tool will help them gauge the level of talent needed on the project. We didn’t know the full extent of limitations until we started using it, so I’m glad we had Keyrus to help us figure it out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of BI (Business Intelligence) and architecture at a spirits and alcohol company. My team consists of developer resources and technical leaders who execute projects from data warehousing, BI, and other reporting needs. We also handle integrations through traditional methodologies, as well as APIs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Keyrus?

By hiring Keyrus, we were looking to scale our BI team, specifically. Historically, we’ve worked with niche, independent vendors, that brought in contractors in a non-scalable way.

We needed to be able to scale our BI team to deliver faster, newer reporting on our projects for our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve taken a project-driven approach with Keyrus. They work on some of the more strategic initiatives we’re working on. The goal is to have them engaged on projects where we need focus; we don’t want them flip-flopping between too many competing priorities, so we can have a dedicated team.

Specifically, the projects they’ve been working on with us have been in two buckets: One is around machine learning, so they’re helping us deploy machine learning algorithms. We’re using their resources to build decision trees built in Python, do data cleansing and learning, and to generate outputs from various input data sources. They’re required to produce some accuracy measurements to give us a sense of confidence as to how good the machine is operating. We share those metrics all the way up to our executive level.

The other stream is on our power BI deployment. We’re moving away from a traditional BI model, and away from our Oracle BI reporting platform. We’re moving into deploying power BI as a more modern, visual tool. Keyrus’ expertise in that modern space has helped us a lot.

They come with strong developer resources, as well as strong project management resources to deploy reporting. They also help optimize our data models, and we want to continue to accelerate that. We’re just building upon our partnership and upon the knowledge that they come to the table with; they know the beverage and alcohol space fairly well. For that reason, they’re able to accelerate a little quicker, when it comes to deploying new data models on that platform.

In the past, working with other vendors not keen on our industry, we experienced a longer data education process. Keyrus, however, helps us accelerate the process and we use them to deploy what we call “self-service BI,” in terms of training and enabling our business to build their own reports. With this process, the business doesn’t have to always come to IT to build new reports.

What is the team composition?

There are four key people on our team. The first two are a project manager and a lead developer, who have the largest time commitment.

We also have an account executive, who serves as a main point of contact if we have an escalation; she also joins our weekly calls and any upcoming work is typically discussed with her.

Lastly, we have an SME. That person is someone is that’s familiar with the alcohol and beverage industry. They’re also the lead of the data science practice areas. Not only do they assist me in contextualizing the nature of the data, but they also come in when we need their machine learning expertise.

We also have a very specific data scientist person that we’re not engaging right now because that part of the project is closed, for the time being. They do very specific Python programming and all of the data cleansing for the machine learning engine.

How did you come to work with Keyrus?

We heard of them through an affiliate. We’re a global company, and one of our other branches used Keyrus in their region. They put their North American representation in touch with us, and we went with them. At the time, we were unhappy and in-between BI partners; we shifted to them without too much of a competitor search.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $500,000 with them.

The first year was around $150,000. In the last year, we used a lot more budget because we have those two initiatives that have ramped up recently.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2017, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’re using Microsoft Excel to see a detailed schedule of what was completed. We also have a budget tracker to monitor their time. 

Although it’s a little early to discuss tangible results, the outputs from the machine learning project are being deployed right now. It’ll be used as a measurement for our distribution partners, in terms of what we’re asking of them as targets, for the upcoming fiscal year. It’s very promising and has the buy-in from the executive level, so it has a good amount of support behind it.

On the BI side, we’re rolling out a new corporate reporting portal. Keyrus was able to reimagine it based on our business process but also brought UI experts to the table to improve how people interact with it.

How did Keyrus perform from a project management standpoint?

We run in an agile format. Over a six-week timeframe, we’ve been able to build, and get user input, and roll it into each sprint. Ultimately, we hit the date we were aiming for, which shows maturity in how things are managed, and how they’re able to react to our needs. It’s also helped IT form a strong bond with the business here.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provide really strong service at an extremely reasonable rate. In my opinion, that’s why they worked for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We attempted to do the project management internally; however, the work suffered because our internal resources were spread very thin. The blame was really on both sides. It shed light on the fact that we needed stronger project management representation from Keyrus’ side. Maybe some of the projects we had might’ve run smoother if that were the case.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice to another organization is to be realistic and to look at that their own capacity limitations. They should speak with their account executives at Keyrus to put a team in place that will be effective for your specific needs and challenges.