Advantage
Building a secure and high-performance IT infrastructure
Data
Diverse data sources
Methods
Open Source R, RStudio Server, Shiny Server Pro, GitLab & GitFlow, Jenkins, LRAN
Challenge
The central challenge of this task lay in reconciling the conflicting requirements of IT and data science. While security, reliability, and maintainability are important for IT as the operator of the environment, the working practices of data science as the user of the environment require freedom, a high pace of innovation, and agility. The challenge was to find a solution that equally meets the requirements of both departments.
REWE International AG's corporate IT department centrally provides infrastructure and services for a total of six retail companies. However, the individual retail companies operate independently of one another. The analysis environment must therefore be able to be managed centrally and have comprehensive rights and access management that can map workflows with individual role definitions and a granular authorization concept.
Goal
REWE International AG requires a powerful analysis environment based on the open source programming language R for the productive use of data science. The goal of this project was therefore to develop and implement a concept for an analysis environment that meets the customer's specific challenges.
Our service:
IT infrastructure as a best-practice approach
Solution
As part of its eoda | analytic infrastructure consulting, eoda provided REWE with comprehensive support, from determining the status quo of the analytics landscape to implementing the new analytics environment and operating it.
The Assessment
In an on-site workshop—the eoda | analytic infrastructure consulting assessment—the requirements and expectations for the analytics environment were specifically identified together with the client. Based on this, eoda's systems engineers and data scientists developed a customized implementation concept. The approximately 50-page concept includes, for example, the following points:
- a solution for managing R packages and their dependencies,
- a process for testing and rolling out updates to the recommended applications and systems, as well as the R packages used,
- a strategy for versioning and version management of R analysis code,
- a solution for scheduling R analyses, and
- options for visualizing the results
The Implementation
The implementation concept presented by eoda convinced those responsible at REWE. REWE also relied on eoda's experience and expertise for the installation and configuration of the analysis environment.
The key building blocks of operationalization include:
- RStudio Server: Central development environment for the data scientists of all retail companies and REWE IT.
- Shiny Server Pro: System for the provision and interactive visualization of analysis results – easily scalable and allowing a differentiated role and permissions concept.
- GitLab & Git/Flow: A source code management system is essential for professional and traceable analysis development in teams.
- Jenkins: Continuous integration system for the scheduled execution of R analyses. Integrates seamlessly into the branching concept and can be managed decentrally.
- LRAN: Local repository for R packages on the intranet, which provides tested and approved packages for productive use.
To ensure the reliable operation of the production system, eoda has set up an identically configured test system in addition to the actual analysis environment. This is the key component of the update guidelines developed by eoda to ensure the stability and availability of the implemented applications and systems, as well as the R packages used.
Operation
In addition to support during the initial setup phase, training the employees involved in the new toolset, and receiving detailed documentation, REWE relies on eoda's support. In addition to carrying out regular updates to the software components used, eoda is available to REWE employees as a support provider for questions and incidents.
What the Client Says
"The implementation concept of eoda | analytic infrastructure consulting is very well thought out and fully meets our requirements. eoda implemented a productive analytics environment for us that meets the strict requirements of a corporate IT organization without restricting the data science approach."
Alex Burisch | IT Organizer | REWE International Dienstleistungs GmbH
Get started now:
We look forward to exchanging ideas with you.
Your expert on Data-Infrastructures:
Ricarda Kretschmer
infrastructure@eoda.de
Tel. +49 561 87948-370
