Brainnet: 'On the fly' insights thanks to a modern data estate

The growth of Brainnet in recent years has led to an increase in internal information needs and a greater necessity to steer faster and better based on data. However, all the information within the company was scattered across different systems, making report generation time-consuming. "It was high time to appoint a BI specialist and build a modern data estate," said Frank Goedhart, IT manager at Brainnet. Frank is eager to share more about this project and the collaboration with the HSO Analytics team.

Brainnet is an active Managed Service Provider that operates as a service provider in the flexible staffing market. The company takes care of talent recruitment (temporary), contract management, screening, and vendor management on behalf of its clients. Brainnet serves organizations in various sectors including finance, funeral services, public sector, engineering, technology, construction, industry, and education, and recruits professionals at all levels for these sectors.

Frank Goedhart, IT manager at Brainnet and responsible for a department of 15 people, explains: "For Brainnet, IT is much more than just a cost item. It is truly an enabler for us and one of the driving forces behind improving our services for clients and optimizing our processes. Data plays an increasingly important role in this."

Frank states, "We currently have approximately 9,000 people working through Brainnet on a daily basis for over 50 clients. This means we have a vast amount of data at our disposal that we can leverage, both internally and for our clients. For example, we can see precisely how the rate for a business analyst fluctuates in the market across different sectors and which vendors perform well for these profiles. This provides valuable insights for us and for clients.

The ability to make predictions using data is the next step. We can observe the expected increase in demand for a specific type of professional and predict potential shortages and trends in rates."

Frank explains, "In recent years, Brainnet has grown from around 40 to approximately 130 employees. This growth brought about new information needs. We wanted to be able to manage based on data. We work with different systems that manage our data. The desire was to consolidate the data from all these sources into a single data layer to ensure better and unified information flow.

I knew that if we wanted to achieve our data-related goals, we would need more expertise in the field of BI. I hired a BI consultant and started looking for an external partner to assist us. We chose HSO, primarily because of their project approach and clear vision of a modern data warehouse. This approach leverages cloud capacity for calculations and processing large volumes of data. Additionally, we wanted a modern visualization tool like Power BI. Cost efficiency was crucial for us, and Power BI offers great value for money."

Frank explains, "HSO wanted to fully understand our needs before developing the project plan. Therefore, before creating the project plan, we had a session with representatives from the business and the management. During this session, we gathered our key information needs, reporting requirements, and dimensions. HSO then created a project plan, secured the budget, and the team was ready to start. The result was that the project was delivered well within the scheduled time and budget.

It was great to work with an experienced HSO team. They knew what they were doing, which allowed us to work efficiently and at a good pace. Personally, I appreciated that HSO thought ahead rather than just reacting. My motto is: you should not think, but think ahead."

"The result is a comprehensive solution for all our reporting needs. Previously, generating reports was a time-consuming task. Now, it can be done with a simple click, and we can add valuable information and analysis. All data sources have been integrated into the data warehouse, providing us with consistent financial and operational reports. It is great that we can independently work with the tools. If needed, we can involve HSO for additional support, such as when connecting new data sources.

The biggest challenge in the project was (and still is) achieving consistent data. This means determining the meaning of the data, how we want to present and store it, and how we handle metadata. This requires awareness within the organization to ensure the value of the data."

Our data warehouse and Power BI ensure better service

"A modern data estate has become a commodity for companies like ours. You can no longer do without a robust data layer. However, this requires a certain scale for your company. My colleagues increasingly desire insights and better reporting because we are simply facilitating more professionals. In collaboration with our clients, we can utilize our reports at any desired level. We provide 'on the fly' real-time insights into rates, vendor performance, overall hiring occupancy, benchmark information, and more.

Internally, our reports provide real-time insights into our key performance indicators. For example, we can track ongoing screenings, the number of open job searches, the number of candidates offered within a specific period, and gain insights into the productivity of our departments.

As Brainnet, we don't aspire to become a data company. We want to stay focused on our core business and serve our clients as effectively as possible. This modern data warehouse, combined with Power BI, enables us to provide better services and quickly respond to client inquiries and market developments. That is our top priority."