APPTIO
Creating a data processing pipeline
Technology Business Management | May-Oct 2023 | New Service & Feature Set | Shipped Oct 2023PROBLEM & OPPORTUNITY
Technology Business Management Analysts (TBMAs) at Apptio faced significant challenges in transforming and mapping financial, organizational, and IT operational data into Data Studio. The existing process was manual, opaque, and difficult to debug, leading to long onboarding times (up to nine months) and operational inefficiencies. Without a clear record of data transformations, users struggled to ensure consistency, trace errors, and optimize their workflows. This presented an opportunity to streamline the data transformation process, making it more transparent, efficient, and user-friendly.
ROLE
UX Project Lead
CONTRIBUTION
Partnered closely with PM to develop product requirements, design a new operations service, app design, and development documentation.
How might we create a reliable and transparent data processing and auditing system for TBMAs to consistently upload, transform, and manage data with accuracy and efficiency over time?
KEY OUTCOMES & RESULTS
Reduced Onboarding Time: Cut initial customer setup time from 9 months to 90 days, accelerating time-to-value.
Improved Debugging Efficiency: Introduced version history and stepwise transformations, reducing error identification time by 40%.
Enhanced Consistency: Provided a structured pipeline that ensured repeatable, auditable data transformations, improving user confidence and reducing support escalations.
SOLUTION
A configurable pipeline was designed to allow TBMAs to create, manage, and track data transformations step by step. The solution included:
Version History & Traceability: Users could view previous transformation steps, making debugging and auditing more intuitive.
Stepwise Transformation Process: Each transformation was broken down into distinct, trackable actions, improving consistency.
Improved Interface for Managing Data: A redesigned UI with clear workflows, error messages, and transformation previews simplified the user experience.
This solution not only enhanced operational efficiency but also increased customer retention by reducing friction in data onboarding and maintenance.
Want to Learn More?
Shoot me an email! Let’s discuss your questions, comments, and organizational needs.