THE CHALLENGE
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Alinta’s finance reporting relied on fragmented data repositories and manual processes, slowing down decision-making and creating operational risk.
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They needed a strategic solution delivered within a critical three-month window for EOFY reporting.
HOW WE HELPED
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We leveraged and extended Alinta’s Databricks platform to centralise data, automate ingestion, and enable governed, scalable reporting.
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Integrated 40+ new data feeds, applied Unity Catalog for governance, and built finance-specific datamarts and production-grade data models.
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We did all this within just 3 months, without disrupting existing systems.
OUR IMPACT
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Faster insights and reduced operational risk - self-service reporting empowering finance users to generate their own reports, removing bottlenecks.
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Efficiency - 208 hours per year saved in manual reporting effort
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Enhanced data governance - centralised data enabling better control, compliance, and consistency.
INDUSTRY
Energy and Utilities
LOCATION
Australia
SERVICES
Data Engineering, DevOps
TECHNOLOGIES
Databricks (Azure), Azure Data Factory, Oracle EPM, PowerBI
“This project has been a huge step toward enabling self-service reporting for the finance team.”
-- Alinta Energy - Senior Manager, Finance
“Unlike my past experiences, this project was delivered quickly and met all requirements with no workarounds or limitations.”
-- Alinta Energy - Manager, Group FInancial Systems
The Customer
Alinta Energy is one of Australia’s largest energy retailers, generators, investors, and developers. In the last decade they’ve grown from being the largest residential gas retailer in Western Australia to the preferred electricity and gas provider for more than 1.1 million homes and businesses Australia-wide and are determined to make energy better.
The Challenge
Alinta Energy approached Furō due to our established trust and strong working relationship, seeking data engineering expertise to modernise their finance reporting capabilities. They needed to modernise its finance reporting to meet growing business demands. Their existing landscape was fragmented, with disparate data repositories and heavily manual processes that slowed reporting and increased error risk.
The objectives were clear: centralise finance data, enable streamlined reporting, and eliminate inefficiencies - all within a three-month timeframe to support critical EOFY requirements. Speed and precision were non-negotiable - Alinta could not afford disruption during a period where financial accuracy and compliance are under the most scrutiny.
Furō's Approach
Furō built on their existing Databricks architecture, strategically extending its capabilities to deliver at speed without disruption.
In just three months, we:
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Integrated 40+ new data feeds using Databricks Autoloader.
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Automated ingestion and transformation pipelines with Azure Data Factory.
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Optimised data storage and performance via Delta Lake.
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Strengthened governance, lineage and compliance with Unity Catalog.
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Built production-grade DBT models and finance-specific datamarts tailored to Alinta's reporting needs.
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Created topic-specific datamarts and flattened complex hierarchies for better usability
By extending their platform, we ensured rapid delivery, reduced disruption, and maximised return on existing technology investments and set the foundation for long-term stability.
Outcomes Delivered
The transformation of Alinta's finance reporting function delivered measurable benefits:
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200+ hours annually of manual effort eliminated (five full work weeks) freeing the team to spend 10% more on strategic initiatives.
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Scalable reporting capability allowing new data sources and reporting requirements to be onboarded seamlessly, without rework or disruption.
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Governance and compliance uplift with Unit Catalog, strengthening data quality, lineage, and access controls—critical for audit readiness and regulatory compliance.
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Self-service enablement: a major shift from a single report creator to 10 empowered finance user, reducing key-person risk and accelerating reporting turnaround.
"Very happy with the finance project achievements."
-- Alinta Energy - Chief Financial Officer
"Flattening hierarchies is inherently complex, and many organizations struggle to do it well. The Furō team has delivered a fit-for-purpose solution that has been extremely valuable."
-- Alinta Energy - General Manager, Data and AI
“The work has opened up so many more reporting opportunities than we originally thought.”
-- Alinta Energy - Team Lead, Group Finance BI and Reporting