From Overwhelmed to Organized: How evolv Streamlined Data Management for One Leading Bank

by Gabriel Grynsztein

The Challenge: At a leading national bank, the Data Engineering and Data Analyst teams were under pressure. Demand for data and reporting had grown exponentially across all products (banking, credit cards, investing, and more), yet team sizes remained the same.  

Without standardized processes or clear role definitions, challenges mounted. There wasn’t a consistent method for things like data or report creation, with requests coming through email, Slack messages, meetings, and more. There also wasn’t clear ownership of things like reports and tables, leading to frustration and stalled progress. Analysts were bogged down writing heavy SQL instead of uncovering insights, and engineers were tasked with building reports instead of scaling pipelines. The backlog ballooned, critical reports were delayed, and leadership lacked the timely insights needed to make confident decisions. 

Although both teams were talented, their overlapping responsibilities blurred boundaries. Analysts, skilled at interpreting trends and shaping strategies, were weighed down by technical hurdles. Engineers, experts in pipelines and data transformation, were slowed by reporting requests. Productivity slipped, errors increased, and stress spiked across the board. 

The Solution: Collaboration was key; evolv partnered with both teams to create a reusable methodology that untangled the chaos. 

The first step was to revamp the intake process. We designed a single, centralized intake form that integrated with Slack and Jira. All data requests flowed through the new process: 

• Transparent tracking of requests from submission to delivery; 
• Auto-generated Jira tickets, prioritized by value and urgency by each team; 
• Real-time updates for requestors to keep teams accountable. 
• Within weeks, adoption soared, and the teams had a clear, reliable way to manage requests. 

The second step required defining roles and responsibilities, and we worked with team leads to set clear boundaries: 

• Engineers focused on transforming raw data into clean, scalable pipelines; 
• Analysts concentrated on building dashboards and delivering insights; 
• Clear handoff points reduced confusion and stress, while SLAs ensured timely delivery from engineering and analyst teams. 
• By letting each team focus on their strengths and area of expertise, collaboration improved, code quality improved, and data accuracy rose. 

The Results: The bank not only fixed its bottleneck but also built a scalable model for future growth. The backlog was significantly reduced, going from unmanageable to manageable. Critical reports were delivered on time, empowering leaders with the insights they needed. And with the intake process refined and roles and responsibilities clearly defined, analysts and engineers reported lower stress levels. 

evolv With Us: At evolv, we specialize in turning problems into growth opportunities. From enterprise data to addressing inefficient processes and defining roles, we bring the frameworks and expertise to set your teams up for success. If you’re facing similar challenges, let’s connect. Together, we can build solutions that free your people to do what they do best!