The opening
Find the permissible path
I was initially told we could not use business-intelligence tools. I investigated further, found a narrow Power BI exception, aligned the work to it, and used that opening to begin the transformation.
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OpenText · Executive visibility and accountability
From spreadsheet reporting to a connected growth-management system.
What began as a path out of large, macro-heavy Excel workbooks became a three-year transformation in reporting, visualization, adoption, and internal analytics capability.
The starting condition
Plenty of data.
Too much reporting friction.
When I arrived at OpenText, marketing reporting lived primarily in large Excel files with extensive macros and numerous tabs. For reviews, people downloaded the workbook, opened it, and navigated the reporting themselves.
The expansion
Move from pipeline to the full funnel
We began with pipeline, then added win revenue and win-loss reporting. Board-reporting measures became governed dashboards, followed by broader marketing data and eventually full-funnel visibility.
Building the capability
Use outside capacity to build inside strength.
The goal was not permanent agency dependence. It was to accelerate delivery while giving Marketing Operations a practical reason to learn a new platform and progressively assume the work.
Marketing Operations
Own the data foundation
My team focused on backend data, definitions, connections, reporting logic, and the analytical foundation required to make the dashboards trustworthy.
Agency acceleration
Strengthen the top layer
I hired an agency to add capacity and help with the interface, presentation, and user experience while the internal team developed deeper Power BI capability.
Sales collaboration
Connect shared performance views
Sales Operations collaborated on reporting where cross-functional definitions, pipeline views, and operating relationships needed to align.
Creating Beacon
Make many reports feel like one journey.
As the environment grew, adoption became a marketing problem as much as a technology problem. I believed it needed a recognizable identity and common interface instead of feeling like a collection of unrelated dashboards.
A common experience
Brand the reporting environment
That thinking led to Beacon: a shared identity and interface that made the reports easier to recognize, navigate, and experience as one connected performance journey.
Acquisition complexity
Unify the view before every system was unified
After the Micro Focus acquisition, the team had to visualize performance across different backend data environments. Beacon provided a common experience while the underlying technology stacks were still being integrated.
Scale and use
A reporting environment embedded in the operating rhythm.
Beacon was used across demand generation, product marketing, field marketing, Marketing Operations, Sales Operations, and regular Sales cadence preparation. Its reporting also supported CEO conversations and materials prepared for executive leadership and Board meetings.
from spreadsheet reporting to a connected performance environment
reports spanning pipeline, revenue, campaigns, funnel, and marketing return
users as the reporting environment expanded across the organization
Power BI dashboards initially linking OpenText and Micro Focus data
My role: I identified the Power BI path, established the transformation direction, expanded the reporting agenda, hired the agency, and sponsored the Beacon identity and experience. My Marketing Operations team built the core environment, collaborating with Sales Operations and the agency. The team progressively developed the capability to take over work that initially required outside capacity.
The executive pattern
Reporting transformation succeeds when people can use and sustain it.
The system needed trusted data, a usable experience, and an internal team capable of evolving it as the business changed.
Behind this work: It was never about Calibri, on where the standard for clarity came from and why adoption followed the interface rather than the data model.