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Qrious acquired NOW Consulting, the New Zealand-based data consulting division of WhereScape Software, in September 2019. This case study refers to work done by NOW Consulting prior to this acquisition.
Abano Healthcare Group, a key player in the $11 billion Trans-Tasman dental market, is comprised of Lumino the Dentists (New Zealand) and Maven Dental Group (Australia). The company employs around 2,300 people across more than 230 dental practices, some 125 of which are in New Zealand under Lumino.
They’ve worked with Qrious to modernise their data by moving their data warehouse to the Microsoft Azure cloud. The benefits? A cloud data solution that will scale with the business, enable actionable insights, and drive ROI.
Radich says the value of information to Lumino and Maven is clear:
Abano CIO, Peter Radich, says the value of information to Lumino and Maven is clear: “The more data we can collect on our customers’ behaviours, preferences and buying habits, the more important it is,” he explains.
“Better data means we can anticipate and meet their oral hygiene needs and deliver the right services in the right locations to the right customers.”
“We can also use data to more efficiently run our practices, improve utilisation of our dentists’ time and help identify opportunities for training and upskilling our staff.”
This approach is not new to the company. Their quest to become data-driven started in 2002 with Abano’s initial acquisition of Geddes Dentists in Auckland. However, working with on-premises data across an organisation which, through acquisition, rapidly grew to be widely distributed through the Australia/New Zealand region, soon presented its challenges.
“Our data-driven focus goes back a couple of years; initially, we used private operators across Australia and New Zealand, but there were limitations (scaling with acquisitions) and it was taking quite a bit of time which was frustrating. We also wanted to play with new technology, like Power BI for example – and it was getting expensive as well.”
The answer to addressing Abano’s ambitions was to bring in a data specialist. “We got Qrious involved to help us gain new expertise,” confirms Radich.
The recommendations were clear: migrate to the Microsoft Azure cloud and use the WhereScape RED data warehouse automation tool to manage the migration.
Lumino and Maven both took the advice. “The project went really well – the Lumino migration happened over a weekend – Friday we switched everything off in the old environment, Monday, we were live.”
From inception to go-live, the data warehouse migration to Azure took the team at Qrious just 30 days for each brand, thanks to powerful combination of Qrious’ specialist skills and WhereScape RED software.
Radich says engaging with a company with a focus on data has proven invaluable. “The relationship with Qrious has been really strong. We really do work with them as a trusted partner. And they’ve brought to the party some new ideas and new technologies before we’ve asked.”
Agility and speed in the cloud
Working with data in the cloud has truly boosted Abano’s data practice. “Being in the cloud is a game changer for us; we’re ahead of the pack. And it was a logical choice to purchase WhereScape RED, which has proved itself invaluable.”
That’s because WhereScape RED largely automates the creation of code, documentation and structures for a data warehouse on Azure cloud. In fact, it eliminates 95 percent of manual coding.
“By moving to Azure we’re making real savings and that’s just the initial upgrade; we haven’t really done optimisation yet,” Radich reveals.
From inception to go-live, the data warehouse migration to Azure took the team at Qrious just 30 days for each brand, thanks to powerful combination of Qrious’ specialist skills and WhereScape RED software.
Positive customer experiences
While some of the results are commercially sensitive, Radich nevertheless hints at the value which is being created for an organisation with ambitions it is steadily fulfilling.
“We wouldn’t be able to achieve the numbers and growth we do achieve without it,” he says.
It is, he confirms, largely about anticipating and
then accurately meeting and exceeding customer expectations to consistently create a positive customer experience.
Freeing up staff to drive value
The internal benefits are also significant, with Power BI dashboards for practices and dentists delivering real, usable data to improve the business.
More than that, automation and modern tooling have allowed Abano’s skilled BI team to focus on innovation, not data administration.
“It’s freed up the three people who do analytics at Lumino maybe a week’s worth per month, so now, they are spending that time analysing data and identifying who has that propensity to buy,” Radich explains.
