Who was the client?
Ashburton (Jersey) Limited is the asset management arm of the FirstRand Group, one of South Africa’s leading financial services companies. Headquartered in Jersey, Ashburton also has representation in London, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The company has developed a significant reputation in its sector and has become an employer of choice for highly qualified and respected active investment managers.

Client requirements
Over time, data acquisition for investment managers had become difficult. Requests for information needed assistance from Ashburton’s IT team, creating unnecessary dependence. The overriding goal of the project was therefore to simplify the processes and unlock data to end users in a timely manner.

Ashburton wanted a Data Warehouse solution with bespoke reporting capability. We proposed a technical solution to achieve the objective and worked closely with Ashburton’s in-house team to meet specific project targets.

What did the project involve?
We analysed all aspects of the business with key staff to produce a functional matrix, showing how the proposed data warehouse would satisfy future reporting, analytical and business needs.

Working with the client, phase one of the project was agreed to deliver significant value to the business whilst avoiding dependencies that might jeopardise successful completion within the challenging timelines.

There were some changes to the specification as the project progressed and the client became aware of the capabilities of the new platform. These were discussed and adopted smoothly without affecting the project deadline.

The system went through several iterations, but by working alongside Ashburton’s program manager and business team, we were able to deliver the solution to match the client’s exact needs.

Scale of project
The timescale for the project was very limited. A proposal was agreed with the client in July, with the project team delivering the solution within 77 resource days, in time for the quarterly client-reporting deadline at the end of December.

Project success
Our Data Warehouse and reporting platform met Ashburton’s strategic objectives whilst providing flexibility to develop the system in the future. The organisation now has a simplified, trustworthy and accessible core system that is less complex and delivers more efficient and effective working practices.

The Bespoke Management Team now receives critical reports automatically, on time and in the agreed format. This has led to improved business performance and quality. The self-service reporting has enabled Ashburton to complete subsequent phases of the project without our assistance, satisfying the firm’s original vision.

Training of the Ashburton team was extensive and has put them firmly in control of their current and future requirements, by enabling users to access data directly.