From Chaos to Clarity: Streamlining Data for Genesis Energy

16

platforms and gas pipeline use cases operationalised

$790k

cloud cost savings with optimisation

$10M

project Investment

About Genesis Energy

Genesis Energy is a diversified energy company with over 500,000 customers, serving them through two retail brands with electricity, natural gas, and LPG. As the largest energy retailer and third-largest generator in NZ, they power 14% of the nation’s electricity with a diverse portfolio of renewable and thermal assets.

The Challenge

Facing a dynamic energy market fuelled by renewables, digital competitors, and volatile costs, Genesis Energy sought to:

Enhance data accessibility for informed decision-making.
Craft unique customer experiences through deeper engagement.
Foster a data-driven culture reliant on insights.

However, several hurdles persisted:

Business Challenges

Fragmented customer experience: Legacy systems hindered seamless interactions and rapid product launches.
Subpar analytics: Inefficient data silos delayed insights and hindered regulatory compliance.
Limited data value: Implementing a modern cloud platform and fostering a new data team operating model were crucial.
Unclear program structure: Over-scoping, skill overlaps, and fragmented technology use hampered progress.
Uncertain roadmap: Defining a clear investment and roadmap was critical to accelerate the data-driven journey.

Technology & Data Hurdles

Outdated infrastructure: Rigidly coupled legacy systems created data silos, hampered real-time analysis, and inflated operational costs.
Aging billing system: An end-of-life billing platform demanded clean data and platform flexibility.
Costly data warehouse: Existing data management practices resulted in high maintenance costs.
Fragmented technology landscape: Lack of standardisation hindered data growth, automation, and product development.

Data-Driven Solution

To combat these issues and accelerate data capabilities, the company funded a project guided by these principles:

Decoupling data: A data integration layer separated data from core systems, ensuring flexibility.
Centralised data platform: A data lake and operational data store simplified integration, facilitated faster billing integration, and unlocked advanced analytics.
Data management platform: Enhanced existing data management practices, ensured good governance, data remediation, and compliance.
New operating model: Supported new platforms and capabilities, empowering data teams to deliver sustainable value through standardised practices and governance.

Engaging dataengine

dataengine provided expertise in various areas: methodology, best practices, solution architecture, roadmaps, business cases, project execution, cost frameworks, and a new operating model. This multi-level engagement spanned five project phases:

Phase 1: Design

Designed Azure & Informatica platforms, including Data Lake, Warehouse, Marts, DevOps, Monitoring, Data Catalog, DQ, Glossary, Security, Databricks & ETL tools.

Phase 2: Implementation

Led Agile implementation with mixed team, operationalised platform, and launched gas pipeline use case.

Phase 3: Business Case & Expansion

Secured $10M investment with business case for Agile squads, ODS, ML, and Event Streaming platform.
Modelled financials, managed stakeholders, and presented to leadership (approved).

Phase 4: Operational Playbooks & Best Practices

Created data playbooks for consistent processes & governance across multiple use cases.
Defined strategies, data practices, design patterns, governance processes, and operational models.
Empowered squads through playbooks and continuous improvement engagement.

Phase 5: Technology & Partnership Governance

Established cohesive governance with Microsoft, Informatica, and service partners.
Collaborated on SecOps, DataOps, and DevOps for cost reduction.
Reserved cloud instances, saving $790k+ through financial forecasting.
Established change activities, roadmaps, optimizations, cost management, and data protection frameworks.

Outcome

Centralised data platforms improve accessibility, security, quality, and enable self-service analytics.
Playbooks and models drive value creation on Azure and Informatica platforms.
Discovery Playbook supports quick experimentation and learning.
Real-time dashboards monitor costs, saving $790k+ on cloud instances.
Gas pipeline project unlocks real-time information not previously possible.
$10M+ approved for platform and use case growth.
New platforms (Event Streaming, ML, ODS) planned for competitive edge.