PlainlyCase Study · AI, Data & Automation · UK Retailer and Wholesaler
Reducing Power BI Costs Through Data Optimisation
As reporting requirements evolved, the business intelligence environment became increasingly complex. Additional data sources, integrations and reporting requirements had been added over time, creating unnecessary data movement, storage costs and administrative overhead. The objective was simple: reduce operating costs and complexity without affecting the quality or availability of business reporting.
The Challenge
Paying more for a reporting environment that wasn't earning its keep
The reporting environment was processing and storing significantly more data than was required to support business decision-making. Over time, integrations had become increasingly complex, data volumes continued to grow, and reporting costs were rising despite limited additional business value being generated from the extra data being collected.
The business needed to reduce ongoing costs while maintaining reporting capability and data visibility.
What We Did
Four steps, in this order
Reviewed data flows
Mapped end-to-end data flows across the reporting environment to understand how data was being collected, processed, stored and consumed.
Removed unnecessary processing
Identified data sources, processes and integrations that added complexity and cost but delivered little operational or reporting value.
Simplified the architecture
Redesigned elements of the reporting architecture to reduce data volumes, simplify integrations and improve overall efficiency.
Optimised data ingestion
Reduced unnecessary data inflows and focused reporting on the information required to support operational and management decision-making.
Results
What changed
25% reduction in annual BI costs
Reduced annual business intelligence integration and storage costs by 25%, delivering immediate and sustained financial benefit.
Data volumes cut from 105GB to 40GB
Reduced inbound data volumes by 62%, from 105GB to 40GB, while maintaining full reporting capability — and crucially, leaving headroom the business could put to use.
Improved reporting efficiency
Simplified the reporting environment, reducing administrative effort and making reporting processes easier to maintain and support.
Maintained business visibility
Delivered cost savings without compromising reporting accuracy, accessibility or management insight.
Freed capacity to grow
The headroom created by the optimisation made room to onboard a second brand into the same environment, and to introduce a focused time-keeping system linking resource to sales — turning a cost-reduction project into a platform for growth.
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