Building a trusted data platform to enable scaling and cost savings

How do you accelerate delivery of a £multi-billion network expansion programme using advanced analytics and targeted insight? 

Virgin Media O2 is building new fibre network connections on behalf of nexfibre, who are investing £4.5bn to deliver high speed fibre to the home (FTTH) to five million homes across the UK by 2026. This complex and ambitious Network Expansion (NetEx) programme involves a mix of organisations, including engineering partners installing new connections, public and private landowners granting access and permission for work, and supply chain partners providing raw materials and technology components. Steering the programme to successful delivery is a monumental challenge.

Democratising information to drive delivery

Getting the same, up-to-date information to everyone as a basis for planning and delivery decisions is key. So, working with NetEx’s Data Team, we launched a ‘single source of truth’ cloud platform, which pulls together internal, external and partner data, in a new Power BI reporting suite. The 30+ production reports generated are currently viewed 10,000 times a month by more than 500 different users, from engineers on site to business and programme leaders. The business insights and analysis has become indispensable to efficient programme delivery.

Power to the people

How did we create a solution that so many want to use? We put people first. Our team invested time in understanding what users need – whether meeting up with engineering crews in the North-East or grappling with technology challenges with delivery teams in the Midlands. We heard first-hand what would work for users and how we could make the solution even better.

Putting people first also shaped our relationship with NetEx. This was a true partnership, where we collaborated to find the best approach and tackle challenges together. Baringa’s industry knowledge, combined with our data and insight wizardry, helped us build trust at every stage. Stakeholders saw we understood their world and had confidence we could unlock the insights they needed.

Scaling roll-out with automated insights

The new platform is now enabling teams across the programme to make the right decisions on managing risks, averting delays and realising opportunities – all with effect of accelerating delivery. Automating insight production through the reporting suite is faster and cheaper than generating reports manually. It’s also enabling more rapid and efficient scaling – the information needed to get additional elements of the roll-out underway is available almost instantly, at minimal cost. This has contributed to the number of connections being installed annually growing by 50 per cent year on year.

Beyond this data-driven transformation, there has been a transformation in the NetEx Data Team too. From the start, we saw our job as creating a sustainable capability. By upskilling the team in new visualisation and engineering technologies and agile ways of working, we left them equipped to build on what we’ve achieved together and to deliver even more trusted insights to drive successful network expansion.

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