46% reduction in operational costs by migrating to BigQuery
Data delivery improved from day-old to same-day by 9AM
Eliminated nine-month hardware/software upgrade cycles
Teams now self-sufficient versus dependent on external vendors
Single source of truth replacing siloed systems
Vodafone CZ unifies siloed systems with BigQuery, cutting costs 46% and delivering data by 9 AM instead of day-old reports.
Vodafone CZ unifies siloed systems with BigQuery, cutting costs 46% and delivering data by 9 AM instead of day-old reports.
Breaking down data silos to accelerate business decisions
When your commercial teams are making decisions based on yesterday's data, opportunities slip away before you can act on them. For Vodafone Czech Republic (CZ), part of the global Vodafone Group that serves millions of customers across one of Europe's most competitive telecommunications markets, this was a daily reality. Commercial teams responsible for understanding trading positions, optimizing campaigns, and responding to market dynamics were consistently working with information that was at least a day old, limiting their ability to make timely adjustments.
That’s because Vodafone CZ’s data infrastructure was fragmented across multiple separate on-premises systems. A legacy data warehouse handled business performance reporting, another platform managed network data, and a separate campaign tool supported customer value management and others which are already being migrated to Google Cloud. Each system required its own data integrations, creating inefficiencies and inconsistencies that rippled throughout the organization.
"Prior to the migration, we had to connect data sources separately to each of the systems," explains Pavel Dvouletý, data and analytics governance manager at Vodafone Czech Republic.
"It was slower and more expensive, and we often ran into issues where data wasn't consistent across systems." These discrepancies created confusion for teams trying to reconcile performance reports with campaign results, making it difficult to develop cohesive strategies.
These technical challenges were compounded by operational constraints. Vodafone CZ relied on external parties to manage the data warehouse and handle integrations, limiting the team's agility. Meanwhile, processing delays meant commercial teams often received day-old data since reports couldn't be reliably delivered during business hours. As part of Vodafone's broader strategy to modernize its data analytics capability on Google Cloud, Vodafone CZ saw an opportunity to transform its infrastructure with BigQuery as the foundation for a unified data platform.
Prior to the migration, we had to connect data sources separately to each of the systems. It was slower and more expensive, and we often ran into issues where data wasn't consistent across systems.
Pavel Dvouletý
Data Warehouse Architect and Governance Manager, Vodafone CZ
Accelerating insights with BigQuery and real-time data delivery
Now, Vodafone CZ runs its data warehouse entirely on BigQuery, with all business performance data flowing into a single platform accessible across the organization. The migration encompassed critical systems including CRM data, billing information, and network traffic—all the data commercial teams need to make informed decisions.
We're now self-sufficient. We integrated all operations inside our teams with Google Cloud. This gives us much more flexibility and understanding of how data flows, which brings great benefits.
Pavel Dvouletý
Data Warehouse Architect and Governance Manager, Vodafone CZ
Previously, data processing was completed between 11 AM and 1 PM. Refreshing reports mid-business day would create confusion as different users saw conflicting results, so teams were forced to work with the prior day’s information. Now, all data is processed and ready by 9 AM, before business hours begin.
"First thing each day, all our data is pre-calculated and ready for users," Dvouletý says. "Team leaders and managers can now track trends on a daily basis and see results from the previous day each morning. It's a significant improvement."
This acceleration stems from BigQuery’s performance advantages and the team's newfound ability to optimize its data engineering.
The migration also brought operations in house using CDAP Cloud Data Fusion, the Google open source data application platform for building and managing data analytics applications in hybrid and multi-cloud environments. This in-house data integration tool, which Vodafone’s central AI and Data team helped implement across various markets, gave Vodafone CZ control over its data pipelines and eliminated dependencies on external vendors.
"We're now self-sufficient," Dvouletý says. "We integrated all operations inside our teams with Google Cloud. This gives us much more flexibility and understanding of how data flows, which brings great benefits."
The migration has resulted in substantial cost savings. Vodafone CZ reduced operational costs by 46% using BigQuery's serverless pay-as-you-go model instead of maintaining fixed-capacity, on-premises infrastructure. The cloud model also encouraged better data engineering practices. "Every query we run has a cost associated with it, so we're challenged to be better data engineers and build code which is more efficient and cost-effective," says Chris Benfield, global head of data and analytics engineering at Vodafone. "This makes everything considerably more optimized and focused."
Building a foundation for AI while eliminating operational complexity
Migrating to BigQuery has fundamentally changed how Vodafone CZ approaches data. The unified data platform is breaking down organizational silos, enabling collaboration between teams that previously worked independently. "We're democratizing the data and enabling everyone to see the same information, which creates opportunities for knowledge sharing that benefits the entire company,” Dvouletý says.
The migration has also eliminated operational headaches that the team experienced with its legacy environment. Previously, hardware and software upgrades could take nine months, require extensive testing of upstream and downstream systems, and cause significant business disruption with potential data loss of up to a week during recovery scenarios. With BigQuery, these concerns have disappeared.
"We won't have to go through the laborious process of hardware and software upgrades that were hugely cost- and time-intensive and impacted the business," Benfield says. "Our move to Google Cloud means we’re always up and running."
The platform's built-in resilience provides additional peace of mind. Unlike the previous on-premises setup with servers in a single location, data is now automatically backed up across multiple geographic regions, protecting against disaster scenarios.
A key benefit of being on Google Cloud is that teams do not need to go through the laborious process of significant hardware and software upgrades that were hugely cost- and time-intensive and impacted the business. The move to Google Cloud means the team and business are always up and running with the data they need.
Chris Benfield
Global Head of Data and Analytics Engineering, Vodafone Group
Looking ahead, Vodafone CZ is preparing for AI-driven innovation. With data consolidated in BigQuery, the team is beginning to migrate machine learning workloads to Google Cloud and exploring how AI can optimize operations and enhance customer experiences.
The partnership with Google Cloud, including strategic input from Google Cloud Consulting (GCC) on a range of projects, has been essential throughout the entire journey. "Our collaboration with Google Cloud isn’t a typical supplier-vendor relationship," Benfield says. "It's a partnership. When we have complex issues, everyone rolls up their sleeves and works together to solve them. Technical Account Management, part of GCC, functioned as a trusted extension of the team, providing the deep technical expertise and best practices essential for achieving operational excellence. That approach has been key to accelerating our success."
Part of Vodafone Group, Vodafone Czech Republic provides mobile and fixed telecommunications services to millions of customers, focusing on innovation and customer experience in the Czech market.
Industry: Telecommunications
Location: Czech Republic
Products: Google Cloud, BigQuery, Cloud Data Fusion
