Expertise and resources
Our expertise
Our focus has always been on attracting, developing, and retaining local talent rather than seeking offshore resources to complement our team.
To help our customers manage their data as an asset, we closely align with the DAMA DMBOK framework. This alignment ensures that our customers implement the correct principles, policies, procedures, and tools for comprehensive data governance.
OUR EXPERTISE ENCOMPASSES A WIDE RANGE OF DATA-RELATED SKILLS, WITH A FOCUS ON THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
Experience in the data landscape
Oratel’s institutional knowledge of the Telco environment, combined with our relationship-building skills, experience, and technical expertise, positions us as a valuable partner in driving success and delivering value. With over 20 years of expertise in the data landscape, Oratel has successfully executed numerous projects across key focus areas:
CRM and Billing Systems
At Oratel, we specialise in supporting transformation teams by migrating customer data from legacy Telco CRM and Billing Systems to modernised platforms. These projects leverage agile methodologies to enhance functionality, usability, and competitive advantage for our clients.
Data migration dashboards
These dashboards provide critical insights for migration teams, serving as a proactive tool to anticipate and prevent issues before customers transition to the new systems.
Financial integrity primary dashboards
This tool enables the comparison of data (A vs B) across interconnected systems to ensure alignment. By identifying anomalies early, we mitigate potential financial impacts on customers, ensuring data integrity and operational continuity. To further support these dashboards, Oratel has established a Primary Controls Catalogue based on our Data Integrity Framework to uphold data quality and governance.
Cloud Migrations
Our initiatives include assisting with the migration of data “On Premise” solutions to “Cloud Based” platforms. This transition enhances control and revenue management capabilities, delivering significant operational benefits.
Big Data Projects
While financial KPIs are vital for sustainability, non-financial KPIs play a key role in transformational programmes, helping our clients unlock quality value from accumulated data with the goal of responsible monetisation. The need for high-quality data has only increased with AI’s reliance on Big Data.
We managed the transition from the legacy Oracle system to an open-source Big Data stack, deploying specialised resources—including data engineers, analysts, architects, BI/hybrid developers, APEX developers, and OAS developers—to ensure uninterrupted service delivery.
Data Architecture Transformation
One of our major transformation programmes involved migrating on-premises Business Support System (BSS) applications to Azure Cloud. The solution included two pilot phases, first with Azure Synapse and then Azure & Databricks (AzDb). Oratel’s expertise in data architecture added value through a detailed observation process, identifying data variances against the Data Mart. These were verified by the project team and tracked in Azure DevOps.
BAU Services
Service desk
The Service Desk serves as the first point of contact for organisation-wide support, handling data issues, investigations, and BI data mart queries. They support all employees using data and self-service BI platforms, with multiple specialised functions.
Power BI Support
Managing the environment where production reports have been deployed, including upkeep of the Power BI Gateways, monitoring of Workspaces, and providing support to business users facing technical Power BI issues.
SASS support
Daily support of SSAS cube processing, as well as development of new cubes or changes to existing cubes.
OBIEE development
Development of new OBIEE/OAS dashboards or supporting changes to existing dashboards.
APEX
Development and maintenance of APEX dashboards in the Data Mart environment. These customer-facing dashboards enable the business to manage reference data, enriching existing data summaries for reporting purposes.
Data and Analytics Transformation
Oratel is cognisant that data must be transformed into usable, meaningful insights to provide reliable information that can drive business insights. This process requires not only knowledge of the subject area from which insights are to be gained, but also the skills to extract those insights from the available data.
Apex Virtualised
Apex Virtualised is a truly seminal data management platform that governs your often unstructured meta, reference, and master data in a business-moderated model. It blends the two distinct worlds of productivity tools (spreadsheets) and enterprise systems (BSS & OSS) in a virtualised, user-centric interface, informed by a familiar spreadsheet look and feel.
Apex Virtualised does not duplicate or disrupt the transactional functionality of your BSS and OSS stacks but rather augments them by providing a safe and secure environment for reference or master data owned by the business.
With Apex Virtualised, your data is:
Owned by you
Apex Virtualised enables your data custodians to take full responsibility and accountability for reference data within a secure environment tailored to your technical reference architecture, regardless of your BSS/OSS stack.
Auditable
Our flexible audit model allows you to define and manage specific audit requirements, from full trails to snapshots. It also provides a Temporal View, enabling you to ‘rewind’ data to any chosen point in time.
Federated
Apex Virtualised simplifies user concurrency and data governance with source-agnostic modelling, supporting data from spreadsheets, text files, macros, and more. Its bulk upload feature also speeds up legacy data transitions.
User-friendly
To boost productivity, Apex Virtualised offers Grid (spreadsheet) and Form (page) formats, allowing users to work in their preferred style. Authorised users can also access traditional spreadsheet features like formulas and functions.
State-managed
The Apex Virtualised workflow engine includes key features like StateFlow, which manages data changes through policy-based state gates, and NotificationFlow, which ensures business ownership by escalating issues to designated authorities.
Protected & Secure
Apex’s advanced security model supports SSO, role-based access, and user concurrency, ensuring compliance with Data Governance guidelines. It also enables granular security controls, down to sheets, rows, columns, and individual cells.
Ready for Reporting
To future-proof the system, Apex Virtualised enables operational reporting directly from its Data Mart, while a Big Data Presto connector allows seamless publishing of reference data to ISS, Big Data, or advanced analytics platforms.
Canonical & Unified
NOX aims to unify data from diverse sources in a model that you control. Data flow between systems follows industry best practices, such as REST APIs, while the native data dictionary facilitates your disclosure of the system’s use and its role in your corporate data landscape.
Apex Virtualised Capability Map
The Apex Virtualised solution is designed to provide advanced functionality from the lowest maturity level, with capabilities increasing until software maturity is reached at level 4.
Maturity Levels
Data Provisioning
Data Service
Data Virtualise
Data Virtualise
Take Control of Your Spreadsheets and Unstructured Data
Spreadsheets have long been an essential tool in the workplace, but only with Apex Virtualised can they reach their full potential within the corporate data landscape, boosting data productivity. Harness the power of data sitting in scattered spreadsheets by ensuring it is consistent and validated across the entire business, with multiple concurrent users and role-based permissions.
How Apex Virtualized makes data work for you
Continuously enable agile business processes with owned logic and data.
Reduce the risk of human error with built-in checks.
Reduce exposure to fraud with required single sign-on.
Track processes to ensure accountability and auditability.
Transition easily with a familiar spreadsheet look and feel.
SAS Operations
Oratel has extensive experience in managing and maintaining SAS applications, adhering to ITIL best practices for service management. ITIL principles typically involve processes for service strategy, design, transition, operation, and continual improvement, which are applied to ensure that IT services meet the needs of the business and its customers.
Oratel’s Managed Service includes tasks such as monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimising SAS applications to ensure they meet performance and availability requirements. These activities are aligned with ITIL processes, including incident management, problem management, change management, and service level management.
Revenue Assurance and Fraud Services (RAFS)
While the core function of RAFS is to detect and address revenue leakage events and prevent fraud, Oratel has extensive knowledge and expertise in establishing a Primary Controls Catalogue, based on our Data Integrity Framework, to ensure data quality.
RAFS Analysis and Reporting
We deliver analysis and reporting solutions that include activity management, as well as review management components.
Skills development
Our learnership programme is conducted in partnership with a selected skills development company and is linked to the MICT SETA. The programme culminates in the completion of an IT Systems Development learnership, which corresponds to a SAQA Level 5 qualification (code 48872). Prospective learners must hold a matric qualification to be eligible for the programme.
Whilst the IT Systems Development learnership is an Unemployed Learnership aimed at upskilling unemployed youth for eventual absorption into the ICT sector, we also offer internal learnerships for our employees. The Occupational Certificate: Data Science Practitioner learnership is QCTO-accredited and corresponds to a SAQA Level 5 qualification (code 118708).
Upon successfully completing the learnership qualification, learners will be integrated into our internal teams for further mentoring and guidance. This hands-on experience provides valuable exposure to real-world applications, allowing Oratel to assess their technical competence and cultural fit. Learners who meet the necessary requirements may then progress to further training in relevant industry and data-related skills.