Starting point
One of the global giants of the tobacco industry decided to transform its data visualisation team to manage and analyse production data more effectively. The team had long wanted to move from manual work in Excel spreadsheets to Power BI and build broader reports. This time the change would be made with an agile approach.
What we did
- Agile training first. Training on agile principles and methods prepared the team to plan data preparation, analysis, development and testing more effectively.
- A data structure for the move. Before migrating, the team defined how data would be transferred, which visualisations would be built and how users would work with the reports.
- Two-week iterations. The team aimed to deliver a new version every two weeks, with data preparation, analysis, development and testing integrated in each iteration.
- Closing technical debt. After the first sprints, the team started internal training sessions to close technical debt and grow its Power BI skills.
Result
After the first four sprints, the core visualisations were running in Power BI and the data had been migrated. The team went beyond spreadsheets, learned to work more effectively and gained the ability to deliver broader, more meaningful reports. The transformation improved not only the project but also the team’s skills and careers.