See how Adaptiv can transform your business. Schedule a kickoff call today

Skills Group Connects the Dots from Data to Development

Client Overview

Skills Group began as an industry training organisation, but rapid transformation—including a series of mergers and acquisitions—has turned it into a dynamic and complex education provider. As it grew, so did the need to unify processes and technology to support a modern, data-driven future.

The Challenge

Bringing multiple businesses under one roof came with growing pains. Each entity had its own systems, structures, and way of doing things. “We’ve been through significant recent change that has led us to adopt a sort of M&A type strategy,” said Scott Bitchener, Chief Financial Officer at Skills Group. “When you bring on new businesses, they’ve all got their own systems and processes.”

The result? Fragmented data, inconsistent operations, and an inability to view the organisation as a whole. “It’s led to inefficient business operations, inconsistent data, and data quality issues,” explained Vaughan Reddick, Enterprise Architect at Skills Group.

The Solution

Skills Group partnered with Adaptiv to untangle the complexity and lay a new digital foundation. The journey began with a clear roadmap and a proof of value using the Boomi platform—integrating key data from CRM and student management systems.

Adaptiv didn’t just offer a technical fix; they offered a vision. “We chose a strategic approach rather than a quick fix,” noted Philip Durrant, Principal Consultant at Adaptiv. “We wanted to ensure the solution was fit for the long term, not just for their immediate requirements.”

Adaptiv then recommended building a modern data platform using Databricks and a data lakehouse architecture. This would not only replace legacy, high-code systems but also deliver a consolidated view of students, organisations, and financials—something previously impossible.

Business Outcomes

The impact was immediate and empowering.

“The new systems we put into place with Adaptiv—with both Boomi and Databricks—have given us a really clear view on what a customer, a learner, our various stakeholders, our products are, and how people are progressing through those,” shared Reddick.

“It enables us to put analytics over the top of that to give us a really clear insight and allows the business to self-service from that data in a way that they can give us insights that we never thought we could.”

This self-service capability has reshaped how the organisation makes decisions. Teams now have the tools to access and explore data, fostering innovation and maturity in how Skills Group uses information.

On the finance front, the benefits were equally tangible. By integrating financial and operational data, Skills Group now enjoys consolidated reporting that supports better planning and accountability.

“Adaptiv helped by recommending the use of a data lakehouse and the Databricks platform to support reporting and analytics across the organisation,” added Philip Durrant. “This consolidated view of financial information just wasn’t possible with the previous siloed data solutions.”

The partnership with Adaptiv also stands out.

“Adaptiv are a very agile organisation, and Skills Group appreciate that,” said Nikolai Blackie, Principal Architect and Co-Founder at Adaptiv. “We can quickly turn around statements of work. We’re very responsive and reactive.”

Looking Ahead

The road ahead is promising. “The future for us looks fantastic,” said Reddick. “We’re consolidating our systems, automating processes and workflows, and getting a consistent set of data that our organisation can use in a mature way to really come out with their own insights and help us shape what the future will look like for Skills.”

Have a project? Talk to us

Our team are here to help get you started or to simply have a chat.

Tell us your unique requirements and find out how we can bring meaningful change to your organisation.

  • Christian Kelbrick Tel (+64) 27 800 6806

See how our customers turn insights into action

Adaptiv empowers New Zealand’s top organisations to see and understand their data—inspiring breakthroughs and driving impact.

View All