Linklaters: Sep 2021 – Jul 2024, Contract
LexisNexis Risk Solutions: May 2019 – Sep 2021, Contract & Employee
Inmarsat: Nov 2018 – May 2019, Contract
LexisNexis Risk Solutions: Aug 2012 – Jul 2015, Contract & Jan 2016 to Mar 2018
CQI | IRCA: Oct 2011 – Jul 2012, Contract
ORC International: Jun 2011 – Jul 2011 (1 month), Contract
The Engine Group: Jan 2010 – Sep 2010 (8 months), Permanent
Tube Lines: Oct 2009 – Jan 2010 (3 months), Contract
Unilever: Dec 2007 – Sep 2009 (18+ months), Contract
BT Global Services: 2004 – Aug 2006 (2 years), Contract
Linklaters, City of London: September 2021 – July 2024, Contract
A Data Analyst on a large and long migration project (110 million documents, 7 million folders and permission sets) for the client’s business critical document management system from the on premise, source system called Documentum to the cloud based target called iManage Work. Due to the size, complexity, criticality, sensitivity and ETL methodology (hybrid big bang/phased) of the data involved this project was the most challenging to date; it was fun.
Mainly working on the investigation and reporting of what could be broadly described as source data quality issues that would cause the data extraction routine to break or behave unexpectedly. Guided by the data migration project’s Architect and Subject Matter Expert I would explore the Documentum Oracle database for reported issues and report in Excel in a mainly remote and occasional office routine. I became known as the SQL Expert on the project. A selection of other tasks were:
- Reconciliation of the source data extract against what I believe the extraction logic should extract (pair programming).
- Estimation of source extract time for future phased extracts.
- Reconciliation of source and target active users and nested group memberships.
- QA-ing the data migration extract for a Net Docs product called Email Explorer provided by the software vendor as well as applying data fixes for these errors.
- Assisting the ‘Change Team/Workstream’ with folder structure reporting to help the business optimise their workspace structure.
- Assisting others to optimise their SQL statements (in respect of how long queries can take in large databases).
The value I added was that the Architect & SME was overloaded with the analysis work and I took the load for the project’s reporting needs. I provided assurance in validating extracts, spotted and reported on issues that would cause the migration to break, facilitated folder and content rationalising pre-migration via reports and mentored on SQL query queries.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Sutton & City: May 2019 – September 2021, Contract & Employee
Lead Data Dev & Analyst for five Salesforce data migrations (ProAgrica, EG, Cirium, ICIS, Accuity) and consulting with Accuity to help improve their customer data. Three of these included migrating to Conga (previously Apttus).
Projects/Outputs/Remarks since 2019:
- Design, implementation (Kanban) and ethos of a migration approach for the internal markets (business units).
- Improved a migration in trouble by breaking it down into smaller, digestible pieces (Agile).
- Data journey with Accuity to discover and understand their customer data issues, plus improving their data with ad hoc data jobs.
- Creation of a SQL Server database replication of a legacy Accuity Salesforce stack.
- Documentation of source and target systems, data maps, user stories, strategy and requirements documents.
- Cross system process comparison and analysis.
- Trusted to have sysadmin access to all relevant data sources within the purview of the department.
- Provided assurance to external EY consultants conducting an audit of a previous migration that what we said we did, we actually did do.
Brought on initially to assist with a migration in trouble and separately a market with customer data issues, I developed the role to designing and implementing a migration approach and ethos. This work had begun during my previous contracts with Reed Business Information (now LexisNexis Risk Solutions).
The implementation of the migration was realised by creating SQL Server migration databases that operated using stored procedures to move data along a pipeline, one business rule at a time, in as automated fashion as possible. As well as migrating the data, the solution had reporting functionality to produce reports of what loaded and what didn’t and why.
The adopted migration solution began as a successful proof of concept because of frustration with the previous approach, which was slow, manual and complicated. My approach was then used for all planned Salesforce migrations.
Then I scripted the EG migration (which included migrating documents), my colleagues worked on the ICIS migration and then once the EG migration was complete I moved to the ProAgrica migration. Other projects along the way were the migration of Salesforce Cases between Salesforce instances, replicating a legacy Salesforce stack to SQL Server as the previous product, Bluewolf, was discontinued. A slew of ad hoc data jobs were always on the horizon as well as mentoring a junior data analyst thrown into the deep and without a paddle.
Concurrently with the Cirium data migration, I assisted Accuity with understanding their data in the current Salesforce/Apttus instance called Unity. Due to a number of factors, Accuity were struggling to identify their customers and purchase behaviour. Ultimately, I reached the point of producing a full data audit of their customer orders, so that data issues were framed against a known ‘correct’ set of transactions; for which Accuity awarded me.
Inmarsat, Old Street, London, UK: Nov 2018 – May 2019, contract
I was a Data Analyst on a data migration project to migrate Inmarsat’s CRM data onto Salesforce.
Postgres was the relational database used. I was mainly involved in data mapping to the new Lightning instance of Salesforce. I also initiated a data quality activity to ensure that existing records complied with new processes and mandatory fields. Other achievements included setting up a JIRA project for the data migration user stories, creating a Confluence site for the data migration and using AWS Console (S3 usage and data migration tasks).
Unique challenges for me were with the complexity of Inmarsat’s customer data structure, lack of integration between existing data sources and the quality of the data available. In addition, due to breadth and scale of the project’s scope, planning the order of system loading was complex. Other challenges that are common in these projects were business engagement with the data migration, desynchronization of systems between environments, data quality, breaking the ‘lift and shift’ data migration mentality in stakeholders, educating stakeholders to the virtues of good data quality.
Mar 2018 to Nov 2018
An extended break, not altogether planned; recharge and reboot.
Reed Business Information, Sutton, UK: Jan 2016 to Mar 2018, contract
Data Migration Analyst, Co-Lead, developer, QA, BA and Data Architect for a data migration from a custom Oracle CRM, plus Salesforce to a Salesforce and Apttus stack. The data was mainly subscription, order and billing information plus the Accounts and Contacts associated with any in scope order.
The main body of work was:
- Co-design, implementation and validation of the data migration solution (T-SQL, stored procs, views, schemas, command line, batch Salesforce data loader, PowerShell, Linked Servers, FOR XML SQL).
- Documentation and visualisation of data migration scope, mappings & rules.
- Discussing and resolving issues with technical staff and business stakeholders.
Within a data migration team of three (one data migration developer and co-Lead based in Doetinchem, and myself based in Sutton), we designed and created a data migration solution according to the requirements gathered by us and offered by the business based in Amsterdam. Travel to Amsterdam and Doetinchem was required. The client, Nextens who mainly provide web services (and desktop software) to assist Dutch Accountants submit tax returns to the Dutch tax authorities. It was a very challenging project for everyone involved.
I then moved on to a new data migration project for the FlightGlobal and FlightStats Reed Business Information markets. In January 2018 I decided that it was time to move on, at an early ‘discovery’ phase of the project. Up until I left on March 14th, I was involved in analysing the source Salesforce systems, creating a strategy document (scope options and business rules per migration entity), data dictionaries, creating test materials and interviewing my replacement candidates and completing a handover of all my work.
Reed Business Information, Sutton, UK: Aug 2012 – Jul 2015, contract
Mainly a data migration analyst on various projects within RBI’s Corporate Solutions Group and one of the brands called ICIS. The projects can be categorised as three and a half data migrations (the halves being other mini migrations and one product dev & design project.
Agile development (using JIRA) of an SQL based solution to migrate ‘credit’ users and purchase data from SQL Server to SQL Server and Amazon DynamoDB. The Credit user migration project was viewed internally as a high profile project. The data migration was successful and the stakeholders were happy; so much so that someone from Customer Sales reminded me when it was the one year anniversary of the data migration.
Apart from dev work, main tasks were the analysis, data reconciliation, communication, documentation and ‘sell’ of the whole project so that everyone felt included and part of it. Troubleshooting and sense checking of other migration projects, i.e. is the data correct, are exceptions to business rules being handled, is the overall approach sound?
Development of a repeatable ETL process to extract petrochemical supply and demand data from an SQL Server instance into an XML database (MarkLogic) via a logical application layer (IDDN) that accepts XML via REST protocols. Other tasks aside from development included analysis of source database, creation of the target xml data model. Documentation of the development of the data model (Confluence), source database, mock ups of the front end interface, consultation with stakeholders, communication with China based web dev team and India based data team.
Data migration, test & QA Analyst for two industry publications (Estates Gazette & XpertHR UK) migrating to a new access and entitlement management system (SQL Server 2008) along Agile methodologies. Both migrations went live with 99.8% of data transferred successfully and minimal disruption of the normal service for customers.
The work consisted of analysing and testing the data sets to provide instructions to the SSIS dev via the creation of semi-automatic SQL scripts, views & stored procedures (T-SQL). The scripts simulated the flow of data from the actual SSIS package in order to test all data drops/deployments throughout the testing and deployment environments. Also, a reconciliation file (stored procedures to produce tables and views as a data source in Excel) to evidence the course of the data flow from the SSIS output logs was required and built.
The Chartered Quality Institute, City, London, UK: Oct 2011 – Jul 2012, contract
Data Migration Analyst (SQL Server / Oracle) for a data migration (2.5 million plus rows of data) of a membership database system (Integra) to iMIS. Initially brought in to do some short term reconciliation work (six weeks) I was extended and took the lead on the scripting of almost all areas of the migration until the end of the project which went live at the end of June 2012.
Content & Responsibility:
- Composition and responsibility of SQL, T-SQL and PL/SQL code in SQL Server and Oracle XE
- Consulted with the business and project managers on how best to achieve the project goals from a data perspective
- Prepared testing manuals and score cards for permanent staff for data testing
Tech: SQL Server 2005, 2008, SSRS 2008, Oracle XE, regular expressions (regex), Excel, HTML
ORC International, Islington, London, UK: Jun 2011 – Jul 2011, contract
A short contract setting up online surveys and producing online and offline reports for ORC clients. I offered advice on the fact that the main website was not formatting correctly in Firefox, Chrome and Safari and offered insight on how to capitalise on online data monitoring techniques. Tech: SQL Server 2008, HTML, CSS, Access, Excel, PowerShell.
The Engine Group, Fitzrovia, London, UK: Jan 2010 – Sep 2010, permanent
A Database Analyst for Fuel Data Strategies, a data analytics sub company of the Engine Group. Using SQL Server, SSIS, Command Line & PowerShell, Access and Excel the main focus is on the processing of marketing data sets for Lexus.
Content & Responsibility:
- Daily processing of requests from Lexus web sites and click through advertising.
- Ad hoc reporting on specific campaigns and lead management
- Migrating server processes on Windows Server 2003
- Set up, tracking and reporting of email campaigns via Campaign Commander, including the selection of recipients (seeds, segments, suppressions, etc.) and validation of HTML and email assets.
Tech:
- SQL Server and SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) are essential to the role as well as an understanding of VBA for Access to disseminate legacy MS Access processes.
- Stored Procedures, batch / automated data input, cleansing, manipulation, and output via SQL Server, SSIS, BCP utility and PowerShell
Tube Lines, Docklands, London, UK: Oct 2009 – Jan 2010, contract
A Claims Analyst, within the legal department of Tube Lines working on a claim destined for arbitration. A short term contract, primarily specified with producing spreadsheets using VLOOKUP and Pivot Tables and charts as well as Access and SQL where required.
From my experience of Unilever and large data cleanses I consulted with the senior solicitors on the project as to the best way to approach a data cleanse.
Unilever, Blackfriars, London, UK: Dec 2007 – Sep 2009, temp
Initially hired to cleanse data for two weeks in December 2007, I developed a role as a Data Analyst within Global HR. My contract rolled for over 18 months until the beginning of September 2009.
Content:
- The content of the data was regarding Unilever’s expatriate employee moves and changes, as well as crucial involvement in the calculation and validation of the global annual salary and bonus review.
- Reporting to senior management, I was trusted and valued to work unsupervised as well as looked to for my professional judgement on technical matters. For instance, my opinion was sought on bespoke software from consultancies such as Ernst & Young Business Advisory Services, Deloitte and KPMG.
- Through my exposure to PeopleSoft and the Oracle database I gained a lot of knowledge of Unilever’s PeopleSoft database design. Furthermore, because of the length of time I spent in global mobility, I also absorbed a fair amount of knowledge of Unilever’s expatriate remuneration policies.
Tech:
- I queried Oracle (the database that powers PeopleSoft), which contains over 200,000 employee records and millions of records in total stored in a complicated temporal format. I exported salient records into Access 2003 then via SQL produced reports for Unilever Global Human Resources.
- I exported results from Oracle into Access. From there I treated the data some more with SQL. Results were exported into Excel to present my results in a meaningful way or to exchange the base data for other’s action or information.
- I also created Access databases using a combination of SQL mainly and VBA. The Access databases I created saved Unilever time and money as well provided a base to validate data against.
The Distant Past: Jul 2000 – Sep 2006
I was fortunate enough to spend time after my MA in Psychology and before my MSc in Computing experiencing the world and working in different roles. I worked for BT Global Services between 2004 and 2006 as a Data Analyst and Team Leader on BT’s contract with the Department for Work and Pensions to supply telephony and network services. I have been a Gardener in New York and Manchester, a DJ Expo Sales Assistant for Guitar Center in Atlantic City NJ, taught English in Tokyo, restored furniture and a worked as Photographer for a music magazine in Sydney NSW. In the UK, I worked in an admin position at BAE Systems Warton, in London as an International Events Manager for the Society of Petroleum Engineers, then an Off Licence Manager for Unwins Vintners. I was a Croupier at a Stanley Casino and did work experience as a TV Journalist and Cameraman in Liverpool. I cared for people with Autism in Barnsley. In my home town, Lytham St Annes, I have been a Bar Manager and DJ at the Queens Hotel.
