Introduction

Skillsoft, a global leader in skills intelligence, set out to modernize its data infrastructure. As part of this transformation, the company sought an expert partner to accelerate its move to a modern data platform and unlock the value of its data. This case study explores how Bentley Ave Data Labs, a specialist in data solutions, supported Skillsoft in achieving this goal.

Company Background

Skillsoft provides the first AI-native skills intelligence platform built for the human + AI era. By unifying learning, real-time skills intelligence, and workforce insights, Skillsoft helps enterprises build their Skillforce™ — humans and AI working together to drive measurable business outcomes. Through personalized, interactive learning across leadership, technology, and compliance, Skillsoft enables organizations to close critical skill gaps and accelerate transformation. Skillsoft is trusted by thousands of organizations worldwide, including 60% of the Fortune 1000, and supports a global community of more than 105 million learners.

Headquarters: Nashua, New Hampshire

Industry: Corporate Digital Learning

Bentley Ave Data Labs Services: Data Migration & Advisory Services

The Challenge

Skillsoft's forward-looking move to a modern data platform brought with it several significant needs that led the company to seek out Bentley Ave Data for its data transformation initiatives. The company had a vast amount of data and was trying to move from its existing SQL server to Databricks. The in-house team was tasked with a project that required a specialized skillset in a new technology. This move required a strategic balancing act, as the team needed to modernize while maintaining its legacy system. The key areas for addressing included:

• Specialized Skillsets: The Databricks migration project required a specialized skill set in a new technology. The team had to upskill themselves in concepts and development to get value from the platform.

• Resource Allocation: The team was split between working on the new migration and maintaining a legacy system. A refreshed alignment on prioritization was required to accelerate progress on the new project.

• Abundance of Data: The vast amount of data across Skillsoft’s business units presented an opportunity to streamline, harmonize, and leverage it for more impactful decision-making. Skillsoft was introduced to Bentley Ave Data Labs through a Databricks partner program to help "accelerate" their original migration.

The Approach

To address these needs, Bentley Ave Data Labs provided managed service and advisory support to Skillsoft. The collaboration began with a pilot project to perform an initial migration and identify patterns to unlock long-term success. Since then, new projects have continually been added to the scope of work. Bentley Ave Data Labs supported several key areas:

• Data Services: Bentley Ave provided cutting-edge implementation and advisory services by embedding resources that were not only strong in execution but also in architecture and design. This allowed Skillsoft's team to get help with project management, architecture, and design.

• Data Pipeline Standardization: Bentley Ave helped to standardize and streamline data pipelines and refactor decisions that were made earlier in the process.

• Expert Guidance: Bentley Ave provided expert advisory guidance and support.

The Outcome

The collaboration between Skillsoft and Bentley Ave Data Labs led to measurable improvements in the company’s infrastructure and team enablement.

• Performance Gains: The new environment has led to a major improvement in query speed. According to Rich Wagner, Director of Enterprise Data Solutions at Skillsoft, "The speed of query running is now up to eight times faster." Additionally, Skillsoft now has the ability to work with data types, like embedded JSON, which was not possible before due to a lack of computing power.

• Team Enablement: More business intelligence team members adopted Databricks and began leveraging advanced capabilities such as natural language processing.

• Relationship and Expertise: Bentley Ave became a trusted extension of Skillsoft’s team. Wagner described the relationship as “co-workers” rather than external consultants, highlighting the openness and quality of the engagement.

The openness and collaboration made Bentley Ave Data Labs feel like an extension of our team.

Rich Wagner
Director of Enterprise Data Solutions

The successful collaboration between Skillsoft and Bentley Ave Data Labs demonstrates the impact of combining strategic guidance with technical expertise. With Bentley Ave’s support, Skillsoft was able to accelerate its data migration and unlock the potential of its data to drive innovation and optimize operations.