Partnering with NashTech, Markerstudy Distribution sought to leverage offshore expertise to ensure consistent and efficient delivery of their Data Lakehouse project, overcoming the complexities of their fragmented data landscape.
Markerstudy Distribution (MSD) is a division of Markerstudy Group. It operates as a UK broker and provides a portfolio of insurance products from within its own and partner brands including, Co-op Insurance, Swinton, Carole Nash, and Purely Pets Insurance.
MSD is known for its innovative approach to underwriting and claims management. The company has grown significantly through acquisitions, expanding its portfolio and increasing its data complexity. With a commitment to digital transformation, MSD continuously seeks technological advancements to enhance operational efficiency and customer experience.
As MSD expanded through multiple acquisitions, they found themselves dealing with a vast and fragmented data landscape, with over 50 data sources to integrate. Their business data was growing rapidly, but their internal resources couldn’t keep pace with the demand for insights, business intelligence, and operational visibility.
Ally Wu, Head of Data Engineering and Architecture, joined MSD in 2021 with 25 years of data industry experience, including a decade in insurance. She quickly realised that the company needed to build a unified group data platform and a Data Lakehouse. However, the lack of internal expertise and the complexity of offshoring data projects posed significant challenges.
“Our resourcing issue was made more complicated as data challenges require in-depth knowledge and people to truly understand the business layer and the context of the data – I didn’t believe we’d be able to simply outsource the challenge and buy people in.”
Ally Wu, Head of Data Engineering and Architecture, at MSD
Without outside support, MSD simply wouldn’t be able to deliver the Data Lakehouse project. Their UK-based team was spread across 16 projects and frequently pulled into meetings. What Ally needed, was a dedicated, focused team that could ensure consistent and efficient delivery.
MSD’s digital team was already collaborating with NashTech and, after a positive experience, recommended Ally explore NashTech’s services. In February 2024, Ally travelled from the UK to Hanoi, Vietnam, to assess how an offshore partnership would work. Initially, she had concerns about:
However, after seeing NashTech’s capabilities firsthand, she was convinced. By April 2024, she had begun building an offshore team with NashTech.
3. Understanding Data & Technology:
MSD’s data was scattered across different SQL servers in various data centres, creating siloes. If one part of the business needed insights from another, they had to request help from teams managing those systems—a slow, inefficient, and costly process.
Due to the skill set available in-house, MSD initially opted to pull all data into a SQL Server-based data lake. However, this approach was expensive, accounting for 27% of their monthly costs.
While they now had a data lake storing raw data, their team lacked the skills to process it directly. As a workaround, data had to be copied into SQL Server for processing and reporting, requiring an additional data warehouse layer—adding further complexity and cost.
The NashTech team introduced a modern Lakehouse architecture, allowing MSD to eliminate SQL Server and the separate data warehouse. The processing logic was moved back into the data lake, enabling direct querying and analysis.
This change eliminated redundant data layers and significantly reduced complexity.
“The Lakehouse project was more of an architectural enabler, a tech project, rather than something the business wanted us to do. It’s something we wanted to create as an enabler for us to do a lot more things this year, like enabling AI elements of it.”
Ally Wu, Head of Data Engineering and Architecture, at MSD
Ally expected it to take three months to onboard an offshore team, but for the Lakehouse project, she didn’t have that luxury. Thanks to extensive preparation, the NashTech team was coding within one week.
“We work in an Agile method. Every two weeks, we’d implement new stories into a sprint. We didn’t do too many at first to allow the team to learn, but over time, they picked up more and more.”
Ally Wu, Head of Data Engineering and Architecture, at MSD
MSD now processes approximately 992 data extracts daily, including those used for customer communications. With a centralised data platform, pricing models are built directly from the data lake, ensuring accuracy and efficiency.
“The NashTech team delivered everything we asked them to do, and the Lakehouse project finished ahead of the deadline. But what I was really impressed with was the team’s ability to learn and their proactive approach. They followed instructions, questioned things that didn’t make sense, and even made suggestions for better solutions.”
Ally Wu, Head of Data Engineering and Architecture, at MSD
This foundation is now enabling data self-service through AI-powered BI dashboards. Non-technical users can surface insights quickly, reducing the reliance on IT for reports. For example, users can simply ask, “Build me a dashboard of my top ten sales by brand” significantly cutting down manual reporting hours.
“Overall, it’s been a really, really good experience, and we’re continuing to build a great relationship with the team.”
Ally Wu, Head of Data Engineering and Architecture, at MSD
Looking to extend your onshore team, achieve more, and drive real business impact? NashTech can help you streamline operations, reduce backlogs, and unlock new opportunities for innovation.
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