Introduction
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VGSG) needed a faster, more iterative way to deliver Business Intelligence across a complex enterprise environment. The goal was simple: reduce time to market while raising standards, so BI could evolve continuously without rework and delays.
Pre-WhereScape Challenges
- Slow Iteration Cycles: Traditional BI build patterns made it hard to deliver changes quickly and repeatedly.
- Change Ripple Effects: Updating one component did not reliably cascade changes across dependent components
- Standards Drift: Documentation, scripts, and delivery patterns were hard to keep consistent over time.
- Bottom-Up BI Constraints: The old approach limited conceptual design and iterative improvement.
Why WhereScape?
VGSG’s team wanted a metadata-driven method where rules define how components integrate and depend on each other, and the platform generates the repeatable build patterns from that metadata. After assessing multiple vendors and running a successful Proof of Concept, WhereScape was selected as the best fit for rapid delivery, standards, and iterative development.
“WhereScape is helping us to deliver our BI goals in a rapid and iterative manner and positively influencing our ‘Time to Market’.”
The Solution
Metadata-Driven Rule Templates
Define standards and rules once, then generate consistent ELT components automatically. This supports repeatability and reduces duplication of work across iterations.
Automated Object Generation
WhereScape generates scripts from metadata and templates, with the option to inject your own code where needed for flexibility and edge cases.
Integrated Modeling Support
Modeling integration supported earlier model creation as part of the overall workflow, helping teams align design and delivery sooner.
Built-In Scheduling
Scheduling was handled in-platform with a comparable experience to other tools, supporting comfortable operations and repeatable runs.
Auto-Generated Documentation
Documentation quality improved without complex manual generation work, supporting maintainability and governance as standards evolve.
Results
🚀 Faster Technical Layer Delivery
- ELT import delivered to the technical warehouse layer 6x faster.
- Data became visible to business users earlier, improving feedback and requirements.
- Faster cycles reduced the “quiet zone” effect where IT disappears before results show up.
🚀 Lower Maintenance and Change Cost
- Templates standardized delivery and reduced duplicated effort across iterations.
- Maintenance and change costs decreased as iterations became cheaper to produce.
- Reduced overall project risk versus former approaches.
🚀 Higher Quality, More Consistent Delivery
- Better documentation without additional process overhead.
- Continuous improvement of standards became practical, not aspirational.
- Faster feedback cycles improved business alignment and time to value.
Why Metadata Wins
VGSG’s stated vision was to define rules for how BI components work and how they depend on each other, then let metadata generate the implementation. This approach shifts effort from repeatedly rebuilding pipelines to improving standards and rules that apply everywhere.
Agile BI Without the Rework
A consistent, iterative framework means rapid prototyping can happen earlier and more often. As business requirements change, the team can respond without re-implementing the same patterns repeatedly, helping BI delivery stay aligned to the business.
Standardization at Scale
By creating templates that generate standardized scripts, VGSG could continuously improve consistency across projects. That consistency is what enables speed, documentation quality, and lower change costs to compound over time.
