Data Virtualization: Accelerating Self-Service Analytics with a Unified Semantic Layer 

Our clients, a global insurance firm and CIT Group, are leaders in their respective industries, providing tailored financial solutions to businesses and consumers. They aimed to empower their teams with seamless access to self-service analytics while addressing the complexity of data scattered across diverse sources. 

Challenge

Both organizations faced the long-standing issue of fragmented data environments. With data stored across multiple heterogeneous databases, data warehouses, cloud systems, NoSQL sources, and flat files, the lack of standardized definitions created challenges in enabling true self-service analytics. They needed a unified semantic layer to streamline data access and ensure consistency across their operations.

Solution

To address these challenges, Orion partnered with Denodo to deliver a comprehensive data virtualization solution. Key initiatives included: 

Unified Semantic Layer: Developed a universal semantic layer to harmonize definitions and models across all data sources. 

Data Virtualization Technology: Implemented Denodo’s data virtualization platform to enable real-time access to data without physical consolidation. 

Standardized Processes: Defined and standardized data access processes to ensure consistent user experiences across the organizations. 

Impact

The implementation of data virtualization transformed data access and analytics capabilities for both organizations: 

Enhanced Analytics Accessibility: Enabled all business users, regardless of technical expertise, to leverage self-service analytics tools with standardized data. 

Operational Efficiency: Eliminated the need for extensive ETL processes, accelerating data delivery and reducing time-to-insight. 

Consistency and Reliability: Provided a single source of truth for analytics, improving data-driven decision-making. 

Scalability: Established a scalable architecture ready to adapt to future data growth and complexity. 

By leveraging data virtualization, the global insurance firm and CIT Group successfully implemented a unified semantic layer, empowering their teams to make informed decisions faster and more effectively.