MobilityWorks is a nationwide retailer of accessible vehicles for consumers with special mobility needs. The company sells and modifies vans with a mission to serve as many of the approximately 2.7 million wheelchair-bound individuals across the country as possible.
As MobilityWorks continues to evolve, it has taken on many subsidiaries and businesses under its umbrella. While these growth opportunities have proven beneficial, the organization has had to adapt its data practices to account for and integrate siloed systems across its many business units.
To streamline operations and make data more accessible for improved reporting, MobilityWorks Marketing Automation Manager John Hill needed to consolidate mass volumes of disparate data using a modern data integration solution. CData Sync allowed Mr. Hill to easily pull information from Salesforce, Pardot, and many other applications into a centralized SQL database, making it easier for employees across divisions to access and analyze sales, marketing, finance, and supply chain data.
The Challenge: High Growth Leads to Data Movement Complexities
As the largest adaptive van provider in the United States, MobilityWorks is a complex, data-driven operation. Explosive growth over the past few years had left the business vulnerable to siloed, inaccessible data across multiple departments, subsidiaries, and retail locations. They needed a single source of truth for their data.
Mr. Hill set to work building their SQL Server database and creating custom reports in Power BI, but connecting multiple Salesforce instances and third-party applications, along with other vital systems, proved a tougher challenge.
“One of the problems with Salesforce is that each of the custom apps has data in their own individual objects and Salesforce limits our ability to associate those objects,” he continued. “The biggest challenge for us was getting all that data into a system where you can actually homogenize it across different Salesforce apps.”
“The biggest challenge for us was getting all that data into a system where you can actually homogenize it across different Salesforce apps.”
– John Hill, MobilityWorks Marketing Automation Manager
Mr. Hill originally turned to another data pipeline provider for an integration solution, but ultimately found that the unpredictable pricing changes and unreliable performance became a liability.
“We move millions of records a day, and with their usage pricing model, that was definitely becoming a problem,” said Mr. Hill. “But there were multiple instances where we would be down for weeks at a time because their development team had made changes that impacted the ability to move data.”
When Mr. Hill was prevented from presenting predictive reports to MobilityWorks executives for multiple weeks, he knew it was time for a change. He switched to CData Sync, drawn to the predictable pricing model and unmatched performance.
“I ultimately wanted the power to be able to choose when to upgrade, when to change connectors, the engine, and how to move data,” said Mr. Hill. “CData gave me the power to choose when and how I make those changes.”
“I ultimately wanted the power to be able to choose when to upgrade, when to change connectors, the engine, and how to move data. CData gave me the power to choose when and how I make those changes.”
– John Hill, MobilityWorks Marketing Automation Manager
The Solution: Set-and-Forget Integration with Control Where It’s Needed
CData Sync quickly proved to be a better fit for MobilityWorks’ data integration needs.
“Within a week, I had all my data syncing with no issues whatsoever,” said Mr. Hill.
Using CData Sync, Mr. Hill can now regularly pull data from Salesforce and its third-party apps like DealerTeam and Rootstock, as well as Pardot, MailChimp, and other systems to arm employees with the most up-to-date, relevant information possible.
Employees benefit from a better understanding of retail sales performance, 360-degree views of customer habits, robust AR and financial reports, accurate sales and budget forecasts, and more – all directly within Power BI.
CData Sync gives MobilityWorks the freedom to replicate and integrate mass volumes of data for vital workflows without fears of astronomical bills. With hundreds of pre-built connectors to choose from, MobilityWorks now has the flexibility to fulfill ad hoc requests and easily pull data from more systems.
“Say I need to pull something from Facebook to look at engagement stats – the previous vendor we worked with would not have given me the ability to expand like that without a major upfront development lift and cost associated. With CData, I can install the Facebook connector and test it to see if it’s something I’d find valuable, and then I’m done. So CData provides the flexibility to try new things and go beyond the defined use case to expand the kind of processes I can support.”
“CData provides the flexibility to try new things and go beyond the defined use case to expand the kind of processes I can support.”
– John Hill, MobilityWorks Marketing Automation Manager
With no forced product updates or performance lags, Mr. Hill now feels confident presenting accurate, up-to-date metrics to business units and executive leadership alike.
“CData Sync works like a set-and-forget type tool,” said Mr. Hill. “It has become a system that I don't have to think about. From an automation standpoint, it’s the ultimate panacea. I don't have to worry about it. It’s my dream to have a system that works in the background — and Sync works flawlessly.”
“CData Sync has become a system that I don't have to think about. From an automation standpoint, it’s the ultimate panacea. I don't have to worry about it. It’s my dream to have a system that works in the background — and Sync works flawlessly.”
– John Hill, MobilityWorks Marketing Automation Manager
