Data Engineering and Business Intelligence Solutions for User Management.

Introduction

A leading international accounting firm faced major challenges in managing their Azure Active Directory data. The firm required a strong solution to accurately track and report on user activity, onboarding and offboarding processes, and Microsoft license utilization. By partnering with BISTEC, they aimed to use advanced data engineering and business intelligence solutions to improve their operational efficiency and security. 

Key Challenges

Our client had to face several critical challenges that hindered their business operations: 

• Their organization struggled to obtain precise counts of active users and lacked visibility into daily onboarding and offboarding activities. 

• Reports were generated manually, thereby consuming valuable time and resources and increasing the likelihood of errors.

• Without a system for tracking user logins, our client faced difficulties in monitoring activity levels, which created potential security risks. 

• Due to the absence of clear records regarding license allocation versus usage, inefficiencies arose, ultimately resulting in either overuse or underuse of licenses.

Our Solutions

• We established a connection to our client’s Azure Active Directory using the Microsoft Graph API to gather data on active users, onboarding/offboarding activities, and Microsoft license usage. 

• By using notebooks and pipelines in Microsoft Fabric, we curated and processed the data within a Medallion architecture, ensuring efficient data migration. 

• We also developed an interactive PowerBI report that provided insights into user management metrics. It enabled our client to make accurate decisions regarding user base, activities, licensing, as well as onboard/offboard details.

These data engineering and business intelligence solutions significantly improved their operational efficiency and decision-making processes.

Tools & Technology

• Power BI: To deliver comprehensive reporting capabilities.

• Microsoft Fabric: For seamless data integration and management. 

• Data Factory in Fabric: To effectively plan data workflows efficiently. 

• Fabric Notebooks: For transforming raw data into meaningful insights using PySpark. 

• Lakehouses: To store data within a Medallion architecture. 

Outcomes

• The new system removed the need for manual report generation and implemented automated reporting, saving significant time for the team. 

• Improved tracking of Microsoft licenses allowed for better usage, potentially leading to cost savings.

• Access to detailed analytics by our business intelligence solutions empowered our client company’s c-level executives to make business decisions based on comprehensive data insights.

• Improved monitoring of user logins and onboarding/offboarding processes reduced security risks and improved operational efficiency.