Client Background
UNIQA is a leading insurance group operating across Central and Eastern Europe, offering a wide range of insurance and financial services to individuals and businesses. The company focuses on innovation, customer-centricity, and long-term sustainability in delivering its services.
Challenges
Uniqa sought to enhance its Business Intelligence capabilities through Microsoft Power BI, SQL Server, and Azure. Operating across multiple regions, the company required a scalable and secure BI solution.
The 12-month project focused on data consolidation, report automation, and improved governance to support data-driven decision-making. Key challenges included:
Lack of Standardized Reporting
No unified reporting framework from visual & data sources perspective.
Data Fragmentation
Disconnected systems made it hard to align business metrics.
Isolated Data Silos
Data from 8+ systems needed to be consolidated into a single data model.
Scalability
Missing efficient process handling large tabular data, including 1.8B+ row fact table.
Missing Governance in Self-Service
Users lacked access to a controlled, validated data model.
Security Gaps
No row-level access controls for sensitive business data.
Absence of Development & Deployment Process
BI assets lacked proper versioning and controlled release processes. Decentralized development with no coordination of work across departments.
Our Solution
To address these challenges, we:
Implemented Standardized Reporting
Design of unified reporting layout and centralization of reports into one Power BI App accessed by 200 internal users and 2000 external insurance agents.
Resolved Data Fragmentation
Developed a centralized BI model with incremental loading for fact tables and full loads for dimensions to optimize performance.
New Data Model
8+ systems integrated into a consolidated semantic layer leveraging Power BI Premium service.
Achieved Scalability
Data load was made possible with custom incremental data processing and partitioning enabled us to handle large volumes of data. Relational and semantic layer based on column store technology.
Established Governed Self-Service
Creation of 1 consolidated model serving as single source of truth enabling both self-service & standard reports.
Closed Security Gaps
Deployed row-level security to enforce role-based data access.
Introduced Development & Deployment Process
Used Git for version control, PBIP/TMDL developer mode, and Power BI deployment pipelines to centralize development and release management in the most efficient way.
Outcomes
Enhanced Data Accessibility
Centralized models provide frequent and trusted insights for business users.
Improved Efficiency
Optimized data availability, regular users now have up-to-date information every morning instead of every couple of days, weeks or even a month.
Stronger Data Governance
Enforced data validation and security measures.
Streamlined Development
Git versioning and deployment pipelines ensured controlled and efficient releases.
Cost Savings
Decommissioned redundant BI models, reducing maintenance overhead.
At a Glance
Through the strategic implementation of Microsoft Power BI, SQL Server, and Azure, the company transformed its Business Intelligence capabilities, achieving better data integration, security, and decision-making efficiency.
