
Odaptic
- Industry
- Data Reporting and Automation
- Project Completed
- December 2023
- Tags
- Microsoft DataversePower AutomatePower BIReal-time DashboardsSentiment Analysis
Odaptic's Power BI Reporting: Streamlining the Survey Process
How Odaptic transitioned from manual survey report generation to an automated Power BI process, reducing time from days to 1-3 hours while delivering richer insights.
The Challenge
Odaptic previously relied on SurveyMonkey forms and Excel spreadsheets for survey data collection and reporting. This resulted in a slow, manual process, taking days to prepare each report. Customising data and building rich visualisations by hand limited productivity and provided inconsistent results between clients. The lack of automation and efficiency in this system hindered growth and scalability.
The Solution
The team transitioned Odaptic to a streamlined system:
- Data Collection: Replaced SurveyMonkey with Microsoft Forms, connected to Power Automate for seamless data transfer.
- Backend Structure: Data was stored in Microsoft Dataverse, enabling centralised storage and easier reporting.
- Processing Enhancements: Included sentiment analysis for open-ended responses to boost insights.
- Reporting: Built a Power BI reporting structure that could be easily duplicated for new clients with minimal customisation.
The result was a system that delivered concise, actionable single-page reports featuring data visualisations like bar charts, dials, word clouds, and box-and-whisker diagrams. This allowed Odaptic to deliver high-value insights quickly, saving significant time and labour costs.
The Results
The move cut report generation time from several days to mere hours (1-3 depending on complexity). Reports became more visually engaging and richer with insights, boosting client satisfaction. The labour savings outweighed the increased licensing costs from Microsoft's SaaS platform. However, future scaling needs revealed limitations in manual processing and SaaS pricing, prompting the shift to the fully custom-built platform.
Odaptic's Transformation Journey
The Journey
Odaptic's journey started by modernising their report generation via Power BI, moving away from disconnected tools and manual processes. While the solution delivered massive time savings and ease of use, its reliance on manual setup for each new client prompted a look at more scalable solutions as their needs grew.
Implementation Strategy
Built an end-to-end automated data pipeline leveraging Microsoft Forms, Power Automate, Dataverse, and Power BI. The system was designed for flexibility and ease of duplication, particularly suited for onboarding new clients.
Long-term Impact
Although eventually superseded by a custom AWS solution, the Power BI system was a critical stepping stone in Odaptic's modern data reporting evolution. It enabled faster onboarding and client satisfaction, laying the groundwork for future automation improvements.