A large UK-based food-to-go retailer has used Databricks as a core part of its analytics platform for several years. As its data estate grew, the retailer identified an opportunity to align its implementation more closely with newer Databricks capabilities, particularly around governance and operational efficiency.
Working with Arreoblue, the retailer adopted Unity Catalog and related platform features to strengthen governance, reduce running costs and support future self-service analytics, without disrupting what already worked. Always a good place to start.
The retailer already had a mature Databricks environment supporting analytics across the business. As usage expanded, applying consistent governance and access control at scale became more complex. Not unusual, but not something you want to leave unchecked.
At the same time, Databricks introduced Unity Catalog and serverless capabilities that offered a simpler, more unified approach. The challenge was to adopt these features without turning a working platform into a drawn-out migration exercise, or adding friction where there didn’t need to be any.
Following a competitive RFP process, the retailer selected Arreoblue, recommended by both Microsoft and Databricks based on its partner accreditation and experience delivering similar work in retail.
The initial scope focused on migrating around thirty priority tables into Unity Catalog and establishing a framework the internal team could use to continue the work. As delivery progressed, it became clear a wider migration could be completed within the same timeframe and budget.
Arreoblue worked with the retailer’s teams to migrate more than eight hundred tables into Unity Catalog, bringing the Databricks estate under a single governance model in one coordinated phase. No extended programme. No unnecessary ceremony.
The solution was delivered using the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.
Unity Catalog provided consistent access control, ownership, lineage and auditability across the data estate.
Serverless compute reduced operational overhead and improved efficiency.
Genie Rooms supported rapid prototyping and collaboration, helping teams move from question to insight more quickly.
All useful. None accidental.
The Unity Catalog migration was completed in around one-fifth of the time originally anticipated.
Ongoing platform running costs were reduced by approximately ten thousand pounds per month through more efficient use of compute.
The retailer now has a single, governed view of its Databricks data estate, with clearer ownership and a stronger foundation for self-service analytics, the kind that scales quietly rather than noisily.
Databricks made it possible to apply governance consistently at scale without adding unnecessary complexity.
Unity Catalog simplified data governance. Serverless compute improved efficiency. Genie Rooms lowered the barrier to experimentation.
Together, these capabilities allowed the retailer to evolve its Databricks implementation in line with current best practice, rather than chasing it.
The retailer continues to work with Arreoblue to improve self-service analytics and platform resilience, including enhanced cataloguing, security, disaster recovery and CI/CD.
In other words, less friction, more confidence and fewer surprises.
