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Big Data SA

Data Engineering & Platforms

Data engineering services and modern data platforms

Bring scattered data into one trusted platform - designed for reporting today and AI tomorrow.

Enquire about this service What we deliver

Last updated

In short

We design and build modern data platforms, including data warehouses, lakehouses and automated pipelines, on Microsoft Fabric, Databricks or Snowflake. It's for organisations whose data is spread across systems and spreadsheets. Delivered remotely by South African data engineers.

The problem

Why this matters in South Africa

Most organisations have data spread across ERP, CRM, spreadsheets and legacy databases. Reports disagree, analysts spend their week copying and pasting, and nobody trusts the numbers.

Without a solid data platform, analytics and AI projects stall. In our experience the model is the easy bit. Pipelines and data quality are where projects get stuck.

What we deliver

What's included in Data Engineering & Platforms?

Warehouse & lakehouse builds

Modern platforms on Microsoft Fabric, Databricks or Snowflake, designed around how your business actually reports.

ETL/ELT pipelines

Automated, monitored pipelines from your source systems, with dbt-style transformations and version control.

Real-time streaming

Event streams for use cases that can't wait for an overnight batch - stock, fraud and operations.

Legacy database modernisation

Move from ageing SQL Server, Oracle or on-premises systems to managed cloud platforms.

Data quality & observability

Tests, alerts and lineage so problems are caught before they reach a dashboard.

Data modelling

Clean, documented models that business users and analysts can understand.

Ways to start

Typical engagements

2 to 4 weeks

Data platform blueprint

Target architecture, tool choice and roadmap.

8 to 12 weeks

Platform build, first release

First data sources ingested, modelled and tested.

Typical timeframes. Every scope is confirmed after a free consultation.

Take the free AI & Data Readiness CheckTwo minutes, instant results, no sign-up.

How we engage

How does an engagement work?

Assess, design, implement, manage.

  1. 01

    Assess

    We understand your environment, risks and goals, then agree clear success measures.

  2. 02

    Design

    A practical architecture and plan, sized for your budget and growth.

  3. 03

    Implement

    Certified specialists deliver in planned stages, with testing and documentation.

  4. 04

    Manage

    Ongoing monitoring, support and optimisation - or a clean handover to your team.

Technologies & partners

  • Microsoft Fabric
  • Databricks
  • Snowflake
  • Azure Data Factory
  • dbt
  • Kafka

Outcomes

What results can you expect?

One version of the truth

Consistent numbers across finance, sales and operations.

Hours back each week

Manual data preparation replaced with automated pipelines.

AI-ready foundations

Clean, governed data that analytics and ML can build on.

Lower platform cost

Right-sized compute and storage, not oversized licences.

FAQ

Data engineering services South Africa: common questions

A data warehouse stores cleaned, structured data for reporting. A data lake stores large amounts of raw data in any format. A lakehouse combines the two on one platform, so you can run reports and data science from the same data.

It depends on your team and existing tools. Fabric suits organisations already invested in Microsoft and Power BI. Databricks is strong for data engineering and machine learning. Snowflake is a popular, easy-to-run cloud data warehouse. We recommend one after looking at your needs, skills and budget.

A blueprint takes 2 to 4 weeks. A first working release, with your main data sources loaded, modelled and tested, usually takes 8 to 12 weeks.

Yes. We connect ERP, CRM, finance and operational systems, databases, APIs and spreadsheets, including systems common in South Africa such as SAP, Sage and Syspro.

A data pipeline is an automated process that moves data from where it's created, such as your ERP or website, into a central platform. It cleans and shapes the data along the way, so reports and AI tools can use it.

Each is strong. Fabric suits Microsoft-centric teams with Power BI; Databricks excels at data science and large-scale engineering; Snowflake is simple to run and great for SQL analytics. We help you choose.

Yes. We often build alongside internal teams and hand over with documentation and training.

Yes, including SQL Server, Oracle and MySQL, with testing to confirm nothing is lost.

Related

Services that work well together

Analytics & Business Intelligence

Power BI dashboards, KPI frameworks and self-service reporting people actually use.

AI & Machine Learning

AI readiness, GenAI assistants on your own data, predictive models and MLOps.

Data Governance & POPIA

POPIA gap assessments, data classification, access controls and breach readiness.

Further readingIs Your Data AI-Ready? A Practical Guide for South African Organisations

Talk to us about data engineering & platforms

Tell us what you're working on. You'll hear back from one of our senior specialists within a business day, usually sooner.

  • Free, no-obligation consultation
  • Veeam partner with certified specialists
  • POPIA-aware delivery, data securely stored when required
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