CASE STUDY
A Leader in Healthcare Procurement Solutions
Laying the Groundwork for Scalable Data Engineering and Reporting Operations
Project Overview
A leader in healthcare procurement solutions set out to evolve beyond its origins as a traditional Group Purchasing Organization. With a growing ambition to deliver a more complete solution to customers, the company turned to Distillery to establish a scalable data foundation from the ground up.
When Distillery joined the project over two years ago, there was no existing data infrastructure. No models, no pipelines, and an empty database. Our engineers led the initial integrations with SAP and Salesforce, creating the baseline framework that now supports the organization’s expanding data operations. That groundwork has since grown to include integrations from more than 10 external sources.
Challenges Faced
- Blank slate: No data warehouse or reporting infrastructure existed at project start.
- High urgency: Aggressive MVP timelines required fast delivery without compromising sustainability.
- Expanding scope: The company’s business model shift demanded a flexible, scalable data solution.
- Team integration: Systems needed to be designed for ongoing collaboration with an offshore development team.
Challenges Faced
- Blank slate: No data warehouse or reporting infrastructure existed at project start.
- High urgency: Aggressive MVP timelines required fast delivery without compromising sustainability.
- Expanding scope: The company’s business model shift demanded a flexible, scalable data solution.
- Team integration: Systems needed to be designed for ongoing collaboration with an offshore development team.
Project Overview
A leader in healthcare procurement solutions set out to evolve beyond its origins as a traditional Group Purchasing Organization. With a growing ambition to deliver a more complete solution to customers, the company turned to Distillery to establish a scalable data foundation from the ground up.
When Distillery joined the project over two years ago, there was no existing data infrastructure. No models, no pipelines, and an empty database. Our engineers led the initial integrations with SAP and Salesforce, creating the baseline framework that now supports the organization’s expanding data operations. That groundwork has since grown to include integrations from more than 10 external sources.
Challenges Faced
- Blank slate: No data warehouse or reporting infrastructure existed at project start.
- High urgency: Aggressive MVP timelines required fast delivery without compromising sustainability.
- Expanding scope: The company’s business model shift demanded a flexible, scalable data solution.
- Team integration: Systems needed to be designed for ongoing collaboration with an offshore development team.
Solutions Implemented
Distillery led the architecture and delivery of the client’s first data integrations and continues to manage and evolve those systems today. Key contributions included:
- Data Ingestion: Integrated diverse sources, including APIs, flatfiles, Excel, and legacy systems into a unified database.
- Data Warehousing: Designed star schemas and built new tables, along with daily update processes.
- DevOps: Built CI/CD pipelines for deploying Power BI semantic models and ensuring smooth report delivery.
- Sustainable Delivery: Balanced the pressure of fast MVP releases with the long-term maintainability of systems.
- Team Enablement: Created a foundation now used and expanded by the organization’s offshore developers.
Outcomes Achieved
The processes and architecture implemented by Distillery have become core to this healthcare procurement leader’s operations. The team continues to own and refine the systems they built, while also collaborating cross-functionally to support new initiatives.
What began as a critical integration effort has become the backbone for an expanding and evolving data operation.
Next Steps
As this procurement solutions leader grows into its role as a full-service provider, Distillery remains a hands-on partner, optimizing integrations, evolving data models, and enabling collaboration across engineering teams. The focus continues to be delivering high-quality, sustainable systems that support both rapid delivery and long-term scalability.
Outcomes Achieved
The processes and architecture implemented by Distillery have become core to this healthcare procurement leader’s operations. The team continues to own and refine the systems they built, while also collaborating cross-functionally to support new initiatives.
What began as a critical integration effort has become the backbone for an expanding and evolving data operation.
Next Steps
As this procurement solutions leader grows into its role as a full-service provider, Distillery remains a hands-on partner, optimizing integrations, evolving data models, and enabling collaboration across engineering teams. The focus continues to be delivering high-quality, sustainable systems that support both rapid delivery and long-term scalability.
Technologies
Azure: Data Factory, SQL Server, Blob Storage, Function Apps, Key Vault Azure Devops
Power BI: CI/CD pipelines for semantic models and reports
Python, Pandas, Git
SQL: Stored procedures, DML, DDL, functions
Client
A healthcare-focused Group Purchasing Organization that leverages collective buying power to help its members save on products and services. The company partners with healthcare providers, suppliers, and service vendors to drive cost-effective procurement strategies and deliver measurable value across the healthcare ecosystem.