18 Jun 2020

Aggreko is using Azure Synapse Analytics to support its efforts to drive data efficiency across the business. This tool will help transform Aggreko’s existing data strategy through, for example, the integration of just-in-time inventory and increased operational efficiency.

Data helps Aggreko to drive value for its customers across the world, which range from powering the Rugby World Cup in Japan to remote mines in Australia to providing power to the entire Caribbean island of St Croix.

Digital solutions

Data has an increasingly important role to play for Aggreko as it continues to integrate digital solutions into its operations and respond to the global energy transition. As the adoption of renewables and the volume of local generation increases, so too will the complexity of keeping supply and demand in balance.

Sophisticated systems and controls are needed to integrate an ever-wider set of energy sources and interact with traded energy markets, all while ensuring stability, reliability, and maximizing efficiency.

central platform

Azure Synapse has enabled the business to improve collaboration, to allow data to be explored and queried

For Aggreko, the Azure Data Lake Storage provides a central platform that can be accessed by data analysts and scientists from across the business.

Azure Synapse has enabled the business to improve collaboration. It has provided a platform to allow data to be explored and queried, without having to be moved outside of the central data lake.

Streamline data, cost-efficient

Using this platform has helped identify inventory shortages, reducing time to insight from eight hours to just five minutes, helping to streamline the data insights process, and improving cost efficiency for the business.

Elizabeth Hollinger, Director of Data Insights at Aggreko, said “Data has a critical role to play in energy efficiency and as the global energy transition continues, this will become even more important.

Limitless analytics platform

We were in a position where we couldn’t fully utilize our data history to avoid exceeding our storage limits"

Elizabeth Hollinger adds, “Previously, we were in a position where we couldn’t fully utilize our data history to avoid exceeding our storage limits.”

She continues, “By utilizing Azure Synapse’s limitless analytics platform to our data lake, we now have a single environment to explore and query data without needing to remove it.”

Single service environment

Elizabeth Hollinger further said, “This means that we can achieve exponentially faster insights, which ultimately means we can provide a better service for our customers."  

Jeremy Chapman, Director of Product Marketing at Microsoft, said, “Azure Synapse is Microsoft's limitless analytics platform that brings together enterprise data warehousing and also big data processing into a single service environment.”