Brüel & Kjær, 2014 to 2017

Pitch

As a freelance EDW consultant at Brüel & Kjær, I maintained an existing data warehouse solution in Oracle and Oracle Warehouse Builder while a new solution was being built in parallel, where the delivery was organized so that tasks were defined and prepared between my on-site periods, allowing me to focus on fixing, improving, and successfully bringing changes to completion when I was on-site.

Key outcomes

Kept the existing Oracle-based data warehouse solution stable and usable during a transition period where a new solution was being built in parallel.
Primarily resolved bug fixes and targeted improvements in Oracle Warehouse Builder, focusing on ensuring changes could be delivered safely, even as the solution continued to be operational.
Made low-cadence delivery realistic by working closely with a key employee who prepared and defined tasks between my on-site periods, so on-site time was used for concrete delivery rather than clarification.
Reduced friction during the transition period by handling data quality problems and the subsequent effects of changes in upstream tables (names and structures), ensuring the existing solution did not break when inputs changed.

Work in detail

Other parameters: Scope: On-site one week a month through Dec 2015, then on-site two days a month; Employment type: Freelance; Work style and location: 100% on-site in Virum.

Maintenance of existing Oracle data warehouse

The task was to maintain an existing data warehouse solution built in Oracle and Oracle Warehouse Builder, where the focus was on keeping operations stable and ensuring the solution remained usable while parallel work was being done to establish a new solution.

Bug fixes and improvements with an operational focus

The work primarily consisted of bug fixes and targeted improvements, where the weight lay on conducting changes in a controlled manner so as not to introduce new problems into an environment still in active use, especially since most development resources in the organization were tied up in the new solution.

Data quality and impacts from the migration

A significant portion of the bug fixes stemmed from data quality issues and changes in upstream tables related to the migration—typically altered table structures or table names—which affected existing load and transformation logic and therefore had to be handled reactively so data could still be delivered correctly.

Low-cadence delivery

The delivery was planned as on-site periods of one week per month until the end of 2015 and then two days per month, which worked in practice because tasks were defined and prepared between periods, allowing on-site time to be used for concrete fixing and delivery.

Company

Brüel & Kjær is a Danish company within the field of measurement equipment and solutions for sound and vibration, where the focus is typically on precision measurements, testing, and analysis in connection with development, quality, and product performance across industries.

For more information, visit bksv.com.

Brüel & Kjær (2014 to 2017)

Timeframe and context