ESG data migration and integration: 20% reduction in operational costs

Innowise built a solid cloud-based solution for a climate innovation organization, making data migration and integration smoother, and leveling up ESG reporting.

Customer

Industry

Environment

Region

Client since

2024

Our client is one of the leading European organizations that provide consulting services to help businesses implement sustainability policies and integrate sustainable practices into their operations.

Detailed information about the client cannot be disclosed under the provisions of the NDA.

Challenge

Migrating legacy systems to scalable cloud-native ESG reporting

The client faced several hurdles with their legacy data systems, mostly managed through Talend. This setup limited flexibility and fell short in supporting their sustainability reporting goals. To tackle these issues, they needed a scalable, cloud-native architecture to improve data management, cut costs, and support both internal reporting and advanced analytics for sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) metrics. That’s when they reached out to the Innowise team for help. The main project challenges included:

Data migration and integration: Moving their data workflows from Talend to Azure Functions needed a smooth data ingestion pipeline that could handle various sources like SFTP servers and external APIs.
ESG and sustainability reporting support: The client needed a data infrastructure built for accurate and reliable reporting on sustainability metrics.
Cost efficiency and scalability: With data volume and complexity on the rise, the client needed a solution that would minimize maintenance costs and optimize resource usage. A scalable architecture was essential — one that could automate data workflows, sharpen resource usage, and support future growth without heavy rework.

Solution

Upgrading legacy data systems to streamline ESG reporting and lower costs

Innowise put together a complete data migration and integration solution that covered all the client’s needs. We moved key data workflows from Talend to Azure Functions, linked up with Snowflake for advanced data processing, and upgraded their ESG reporting — providing everything required for smooth data management and keeping tabs on sustainability.

Requirements analysis and planning

Our business analyst and ESG analyst worked closely with the client’s team to dig deep into their requirements. We focused on understanding exactly what data needed to be migrated from their legacy Talend system and which workflows were a priority. By getting a clear picture of their ESG reporting needs, we made sure the solution would capture all key metrics for accurate, transparent reporting.

Our team also set long-term scalability goals to handle future growing volume of data for tracking analysis, designing a flexible architecture from the start.

Azure functions setup

Innowise’s team developed custom Azure Functions that automatically pull data from the client’s legacy system via SFTP and APIs. We set up scheduled triggers to keep data transfers on track with their ESG reporting cycles. To make sure the entire process goes as smoothly as possible and all errors are resolved quickly, our experts integrated Azure Application Insights.

Thanks to the serverless architecture, costs stayed low as resources were only used during data processing. Unlike traditional setups, there were no idle servers running up expenses.

Snowflake integration and data processing

We used Snowflake as the core platform for data storage and analytics and created staging tables to manage and organize incoming data before it underwent deeper processing. Azure Functions handled the first round of data transformations. On other hand, Snowflake took on the more complex processing with SQL scripts, shaping the data to match ESG and sustainability metrics and ensuring it met reporting standards. Additionally, we built data pipelines to store historical data, which supported trend analysis and provided the client with a clear view of their sustainability impact over time.

Integration with third-party systems

To facilitate smooth exchange of data, we integrated several third-party systems into the data migration setup:

Cezanne HR: the client’s go-to for tracking employee timesheets, Cezanne served as a centralized time management tool across their organization.
HSBC SFTP Service: this secure service handles financial data transfers, providing both compliance and data security for transactions.
Unit4 ERP: while the client primarily used Unit4 as their ERP, they were in the process of moving to a new platform. Our integration approach supported both the current and future ERP systems, allowing for an easy transition without interrupting daily operations.

Sustainability and EGS reporting

To support the client’s sustainability goals, our team put together a solid data architecture that makes sure their ESG reporting is clear and accurate. Our solution included a few crucial parts:

Carbon emissions tracking: we set up data pipelines to pull in carbon emissions data from all sorts of sources like energy use records and transportation logs. Everything was centralized in Snowflake, making it easy for the client to get a clear, streamlined view of their carbon footprint. With all these data streams in one place, they could effectively track and manage emissions across their operations.
Social impact data collection: by integrating data from client’s HR systems like Cezanne, we made it easy to collect social impact metrics. This setup lets the company report on key metrics — like diversity, training time, and community projects — without the hassle.. Automated data flows provide a clear view of their social performance, guarantee compliance and help the company fine-tune their ESG strategies.
Governance metrics: The system processed key financial and operational data from HSBC’s SFTP services to hit all the client’s governance reporting goals, including things like ethical sourcing, compliance, and audit trails. With these metrics accurately reported, the client could keep their operations transparent and accountable.
Real-time dashboards: to give stakeholders quick, actionable insights, we connected Snowflake to Power BI and built real-time ESG dashboards. These dashboards brought key sustainability metrics — like energy use, waste reduction, and diversity — into focus. With real-time updates, the client could keep a close eye on their progress toward climate goals, making informed decisions and promoting accountability.

Data security and compliance

We kept your data safe by using encrypted SFTP connections and Snowflake’s rock-solid security features. Every data transfer to and from Snowflake was fully GDPR-compliant, which is crucial for handling sensitive HR and ESG information. Plus, our security experts set up role-based access control (RBAC) in Snowflake, so only the right people could access or update ESG metrics.

Technologies

Programming Languages and Frameworks

.NET, SQL

Cloud Services

Azure Functions, Azure Application Insights

Data Warehousing

Snowflake

Data Transfer Protocols

SFTP

Monitoring and Logging

Azure Monitor

Visualization Tools

Power BI

VCS

Git, GitHub

Testing

NUnit

Process

We managed the project using Agile, breaking it down into clear, manageable phases to stay efficient and in sync with client goals. Each phase was carefully planned, executed, and reviewed with the client. Thanks to regular sprints and continuous integration, we kept things moving and quickly adjusted to feedback. Our project manager held weekly check-ins to share updates, answer questions, and get approvals at key milestones. This structured approach kept us on track, reduced risks, and helped us deliver high-quality results right on time, hitting the client’s expectations perfectly.

Team

Project Manager

ESG Analyst

Business Analyst

Data Engineers

Cloud Architect

ESG Consultant

QA Engineer

Results

Improved data accuracy and reduced reporting costs

The project has already delivered significant results, putting the client on the fast track to hit their sustainability goals. By switching to Azure Functions, the client boosted data processing efficiency by 30%, sped up data flows and reduced time-to-insight. The Snowflake integration provided real-time access to critical ESG metrics, which increased reporting accuracy by 25% and improved compliance and transparency.

The serverless setup also slashed operational costs by 20%, giving the client a scalable, budget-friendly solution ready to grow with future needs. Now, they’re set up to make smarter, data-driven decisions and continue advancing their climate innovation efforts.

In the next phase, the client plans to add predictive analytics with machine learning for ESG forecasting, integrate IoT for sharper data collection, and adopt AI-powered compliance monitoring to stay on top of evolving ESG rules.

Project duration

June 2024 — Ongoing

30%

boost in data processing efficiency

20%

reduction in operational costs

Related cases

Contact us!

Book a call or fill out the form below and we’ll get back
to you once we’ve processed your request.

What happens next?

Having received and processed your request, we will get back to you shortly to detail your project needs and sign an NDA to ensure the confidentiality of information.

After examining requirements, our analysts and developers devise a project proposal with the scope of works, team size, time, and cost estimates.

We arrange a meeting with you to discuss the offer and come to an agreement.

We sign a contract and start working on your project as quickly as possible.