Query time reduction
Minutes (was
Executive dashboards delivered
C-suite stakeholders served
Overview

Trans Alta is one of Canada's largest publicly traded power generators, operating wind, solar, hydro, and natural gas facilities across North America. Their C-suite depended on BI reporting for critical operational and strategic decisions — but the BI infrastructure had become a serious bottleneck.

Critical reports were taking 40–50 minutes to execute. By the time data was available, decisions had already been made on outdated information. The root cause: unoptimised Denodo virtual data models, inefficient VQL, and integration patterns creating unnecessary computational overhead across multiple source systems.

Challenge & Solution
Business intelligence dashboard
⚠ Challenge

40–50 minute query execution times

Critical business reports taking 40–50 minutes to run — making real-time C-suite decision-making impossible. Denodo models built iteratively without performance optimisation, pulling from databases, APIs, cloud, and flat files through inefficient joins and missing caching.

Data analytics pipeline
✦ Solution

Denodo VQL rebuild — zero new infrastructure

Complete reconstruction of Denodo virtual data models with push-down optimisation, intelligent caching, restructured joins, and role-based security. All performance gains achieved through engineering discipline alone — no new infrastructure required.

98%

Query time reduction — 40 min to 30 seconds

Reports that took 40–50 minutes now execute in 30–40 seconds. C-suite confidence in BI as a decision tool was fully restored. Zero additional infrastructure investment required — all gains through VQL engineering.

Solution Delivery
1

Query Performance Diagnostic

Full audit of existing Denodo base views, derived views, and join strategies to identify the specific patterns causing 40–50 minute execution times. Profiled every bottleneck individually before touching any code.

2

Denodo VQL Model Reconstruction

Rebuilt virtual data models from scratch — push-down query optimisation, elimination of redundant derived views, and restructured joins to minimise data movement across the virtualisation layer.

3

Caching Configuration & Refresh Strategy

Implemented intelligent caching at the Denodo layer for frequently accessed datasets — full and partial cache modes with scheduled refresh cycles balancing data freshness against performance.

4

Role-Based Security & Data Masking

Designed and implemented RBAC policies and data masking within Denodo — sensitive operational and financial data accessible only to authorised users with appropriate masking.

5

5 Executive Power BI Dashboards

Built 5 executive-level Power BI dashboards connected to the rebuilt Denodo layer — transforming complex multi-source energy datasets into clear narratives for 8–10 C-suite stakeholders.

Technology Stack
🗄️Denodo VQL📊Power BI💾SQL🔌REST APIs☁️Cloud Sources📄Flat File Integration🔐RBAC & Data Masking
Key Outcomes
98%+ query time reduction — reports that took 40–50 minutes now execute in 30–40 seconds enabling near-real-time BI.
C-suite data confidence fully restored — leadership now uses BI dashboards as primary decision-support tools.
Unified virtualised data layer — all sources accessible through a single optimised Denodo layer with role-based security.
Zero additional infrastructure required — all performance gains achieved through VQL optimisation and caching strategy alone.
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