Years of switching data analytics vendors combined with frequent internal reorganizations left the organization's data ecosystem nearly untraceable. The initial question was whether app engagement drove product sales. The problem was that no one could trace a single piece of data far enough to find out.
Case Study
Turning years of unused user data into product-ready insight.
When a global footwear and apparel company needed to know whether its mobile apps were driving product sales, years of vendor changes and internal reorganizations had left no one able to trace the data far enough to find out. We built the first accurate map of the organization's data ecosystem, closing off data leaks along the way.
Engagement at-a-glance
Industry:
Retail
Organization size:
70,000+ employees globally
Services:
Technical Execution
Enterprise/Data Architecture
Technology Strategy & Portfolio Management
Enterprise/Data Architecture
Technology Strategy & Portfolio Management
The Challenge
The organization didn't lack data. It lacked a map of where it lived.
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Vendor churn and reorganizations erased institutional knowledge
The organization cycled through multiple analytics vendors, leaving behind legacy services that outlived the teams who built them.
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Years of tech debt sitting between the organization and its own security standards
Privacy and security practices hadn't kept pace with how data was actually being shared and stored, leaving gaps that had already resulted in data leaks and put the organization at ongoing risk.
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Legacy user data no one was using
Years of user data had been collected and left unanalyzed, representing a missed opportunity to understand user behavior and inform product decisions that the organization hadn't yet acted on.
Our Approach
Mapping a matrixed organization's data before deciding what to do with it.
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1
Ran diagnostic workshops with the core technical team
Met the technical teams to understand how they documented, built, and changed their own services, translating their internal terminology into something that could extend to the wider ecosystem.
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2
Traced each service outward to the team that now owned it
Followed every connected service outward, interviewing the teams who had inherited them and reviewing existing documentation to determine what each one actually did and where its data went.
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3
Combined efforts with other teams mapping the same ecosystem
Collaborated with other teams independently mapping the same data ecosystem from different angles, and combined the three efforts into one consistent architecture diagram.
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4
Prioritized findings and recommendations
Delivered the completed map, along with a prioritized set of findings on tech debt, data leaks, and optimization opportunities.
Value Delivered
Where fragmentation had been the default, one clear picture emerged.
Consolidated fragmented documentation into a single enterprise architecture map
Replaced disparate, siloed data records with a unified macro-level architecture diagram that maps end-to-end data transmission across the complete mobile ecosystem and the broader retail business.
Enabled strategic legacy system decommissioning
Delivered the actionable data architecture findings necessary to identify, intercept, and sunset obsolete legacy platforms, significantly reducing long-term technical debt.
Linked digital app engagement to consumer lifetime value
The analysis successfully verified the strategic correlation between active digital engagement and increased retail product spend, validating the business case for long-term digital platform investment.
Delivered an actionable governance roadmap to executive leadership
Delivered the comprehensive data map to senior leadership alongside a prioritized roadmap for optimization and permanent data governance.
Results that reflect the work behind them.
1
Central mapping methodology established to bridge mobile app usage with average customer spend
6 months
Timeline elapsed during mapping phase within a broader 18-month strategic advisory engagement
3
Independent architecture mapping initiatives combined into a single, cohesive macro-level enterprise diagram
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Work With Us
The firms that move fastest don’t wait for clarity. They create it.
We help leadership teams cut their ambiguity, align around what matters, and build the momentum to transform their business.