Allen Firth

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Case study

DataLake and Reporting Platform

The SPAR Group2017–2021Consultant developer

Retail

Centralised operational data from disparate legacy stores into a modern Azure data lake and exposed reporting APIs for business applications and investigation.

  • Multiple legacy operational stores

    Sources

  • Azure SQL → Data Factory & Synapse

    Platform

  • Reporting APIs for business apps

    Consumers

Stack

C#ASP.NET Web APIAzure SQL ServerAzure Data FactoryAzure Synapse

Context

SPAR’s operational data lived across disparate legacy systems, which made consistent reporting and investigation difficult. The business needed a modernised central store and APIs that application teams could rely on without coupling to every source system.

Approach

Replicated operational data into Azure SQL Server as a central data lake, built C# / ASP.NET Web API endpoints for reporting and data investigation, and progressively moved pipelines toward Azure Data Factory and Synapse as the platform matured.

Outcome

Delivered a centralised lake and reporting surface that business applications could query through stable APIs, reducing dependence on brittle point-to-point access to legacy stores and setting up a path onto broader Azure data services.

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