Data Migration: on-prem to cloud
About this project:
This project focussed on data migration from an on-prem PeopleSoft solution to a Snowflake cloud solution.
"This project demonstrated how the right data platform can fundamentally change how finance teams operate - turning slow, manual processes into fast, insight-driven decision making."
Nicholas Deveney
Group Head of Data & Consulting
Executive Summary
Data Migration
Objective: Migrate finance data from Oracle PeopleSoft to Snowflake to eliminate performance delays and enable faster, more efficient financial reporting.
Solution: Led stakeholder workshops to define requirements and delivered a Snowflake-based data platform improving performance, usability, and governance.
Results: Reduced data refresh from 4 hours to near real-time, improving reporting speed, user efficiency, and enabling scalable, secure finance operations.
Challenge
Solution
Outcome
Chaucer's finance team faced significant performance limitations with their existing on-premise Oracle PeopleSoft system. The platform acted as the single source of truth for both regulatory reporting and internal financial processes, making its reliability and speed business-critical.
However, the system struggled to keep up with operational demands - particularly during key reporting periods such as quarter-end close. Finance users experienced delays of up to four hours when refreshing journal data after making adjustments. This lag forced teams to work extended hours, including weekends, to meet reporting deadlines.
Beyond performance, the reliance on a legacy system limited scalability and hindered the ability to deliver timely insights. The organisation needed a modern, cloud-based solution that could improve data availability, enhance reporting speed, and support more agile financial operations - without compromising governance or accuracy.
Needed a modern cloud-based solution without compromising governance or accuracy
Eden Smith supported this large insurance organisation in transitioning their finance data platform from Oracle PeopleSoft to Snowflake, delivering a scalable and high-performance cloud solution.
Our Technical Consultant led the requirements gathering process, working across both business and technical teams to define the future-state data platform. This involved close collaboration with finance stakeholders, data engineers, developers, and the data architect to ensure alignment between business needs and technical implementation.
Through a series of workshops and stakeholder sessions, we captured detailed business processes and translated them into clear technical requirements. The focus was on improving data refresh speeds, enhancing usability for finance users, and strengthening data governance and security.
This structured and collaborative approach ensured that the new Snowflake-based solution not only addressed existing pain points but also laid the foundation for a more flexible and future-ready finance data ecosystem.
A future-ready finance data ecosystem
Key outcomes included:
- Near real-time data availability, eliminating previous 4-hour refresh delays
- Improved reporting efficiency, reducing the need for weekend work during financial close
- Enhanced data accessibility and usability for finance teams
- Stronger data governance and security controls
- Scalable cloud-based platform supporting future growth and innovation
