Xero Uses WhereScape Automation to Migrate 30 TB Data Warehouse to Amazon Redshift

The challenge

Xero is the emerging global leader of online accounting software that connects small businesses to their advisors and other services. The cloud-based software is used in more than 180 countries by more than one million subscribers. As a data-driven organization from the top down, Xero employees constantly talk about data and how to leverage it. To support the data needs of the rapidly growing company, Xero first created a data warehouse on Microsoft SQL Server. Then, with a company move to AWS, the data warehousing team was tasked to migrate its data warehousing efforts to Amazon Redshift.

The solution

Xero initially selected WhereScape® RED to aid in its design, development, deployment and operation of a new Microsoft SQL Server data warehouse. With rapid success delivering the SQL Server data warehouse using automation, the team turned its attention to the cloud and was confident to use WhereScape once again. With a single developer tied to the effort, Xero was able to use WhereScape RED to migrate its SQL Server data warehouse to Amazon Redshift with six months of development effort – meeting a company-mandated deadline for all infrastructure to be ready for use on AWS.

The results

  • Rapidly developed and deployed a new data warehouse on Microsoft SQL Server, and then migrated the existing data warehouse to Amazon Redshift
  • Generates consistent models so that anyone on the BI team can pick up the code and continue working
  • Helped “upskill” new BI team members quickly as the team grew from 2 to 20
  • Data sources for the Amazon Redshift migration reconfigured in less than three weeks
  • Delivered migration to Amazon Redshift through six months effort of one developer
  • Now enables big data and data science approaches for gleaning greater insight from the data warehouse

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Xero Uses WhereScape Automation to Migrate 30 TB Data Warehouse to Amazon Redshift

WhereScape automation means our developers spend less time writing code. Instead, they spend more time on producing business logic that is unique to Xero, delivering solutions more quickly and providing better value to the business.

– Nathan Griffiths, Data Services Platform Lead, Xero