πAnalytics Accelerator
Applications for ODI's Analytics Accelerator are opening soon. If you or your team are interested in applying, please book an office hours appointment to learn more about the service.
The Analytics Accelerator is a holistic approach to help your department or program move from manual, high effort reporting to streamlined and automated reporting.

ODI's Analytics Accelerator aims to both free up analyst's time and provide them with new skills to tackle new analytic challenges. During a 3 month engagement, we will train a cohort of department analysts in PowerBI.
This service moves beyond the limitations of individual βtool basedβ training to a more holistic approach:
We use a cohort training model to allow groups of data staff to learn together
We provide wraparound support so that training doesnβt end in the classroom but includes consultation, office hours, and documentation.
We include IT engagement. Special engagement is available for IT staff interested in leveraging and governing PowerBI.
We use a train the trainer model to allow staff to use our materials to train other staff after their engagement has ended.
Visit our showcase to see past public sector analytics accelerator engagements.
How this service can help your department
This service can help your department:
Automate your reporting using dashboard tools
Upskill data teams by teaching them PowerBI
Develop user friendly data tools for your leadership and management
Create accessible, enticing public reporting
Who is a good fit for this service
This service is a good fit for:
Data & analytic teams or program team leads who want to upskill an entire team or group
Department leadership and management who wants to have dashboards for key operational areas
Analytics, reporting, or program staff who want access to tools to make their day to day life easier and learn new workflow practices to maximize data work
IT staff who want to empower their program side to better use their data in a secure and governed reporting tool
This service may not be a good fit for:
Programs that have already automated their reports. If you have already automated all of your reports and key measures (e.g. no manual prep in Excel etc), you probably donβt need this service. NOTE: But if you are interested in migrating to PowerBI, this service will help you do that quickly.
Programs that need to change or automate data collection. The service helps automate the analytics portion of the report process. It is designed to work with existing data that is already collected in the format or structure you need.
A la carte training. This service requires that analysts complete each training module. The trainings build on each other and are meant to be taken holistically not a la carte.
Individual training. This service is designed to train whole teams together as a cohort. Weβve learned that this is the best way to make an enduring department impact.
Departments without data or analyst staff. The training assumes a baseline analytical ability. More in our section on expectations.
What this service includes
The Analytics Accelerator is more than traditional training, and includes wrap around support:

All analytics accelerator engagements will involve working on actual department work products (report, dashboard, etc) in parallel to the training. Successful completion of the Accelerator involves the successful completion of these reports. Read below for more
During the 3 month engagement period participants will participate in:
Scoping Session
Needs assessment meeting to identify how to structure the training and which components to prioritize. Identification of pilot reports to be working on in parallel to course work.
Program Staff Training/Offerings
Courses/Workshops/Other group engagements
Intro to PowerBI (10 hrs)
Intermediate PowerBI: Data Structure and Modeling (10 hrs)
Intermediate PowerBI: DAX (10 hrs)
(Optional) IT staff Training/Offerings
Curated Selection of Program Staff Trainings
PowerBI tenant settings check up mtg
Project Review Sessions
Targeted application of learnings on a priority department dashboard(s) and report(s), with extensive consulting and coaching from the CalData team. Dashboard will be selected at beginning of engagement during scoping session and worked on until engagement ends via special Project Review sessions
Train the Trainer
Extra training for department PowerBI champions so they continue to support onboarding new staff to PowerBI
Office Hours & Consulting Appointments
1:1 Consulting to support completion of pilot dashboards. As well as assessment of absorption and application of data concepts and learning to pilot reports.
After the engagement, staff will have access to:
Enduring recorded training materials & documentation
Extended Access to Office Hours for Department PowerBI Champions for advanced consultation and technical assistance
PowerBI Champion access to special advanced training materials
Expectations of department partners
Types of participants
The engagement can be tailored to a wide range of staff familiarity with PowerBI
Beginners - Perfect for the accelerator
Intermediate - Maybe your department already had staff attend an '8-hour bootcamp' for PowerBI. There is still enormous value in scoping an engagement. Often those bootcamps dont teach best practices and this gap ends up holding back teams from their full potential.
Advanced - maybe you are Advanced PowerBI whiz, but want to help bring along others in your department but it feels overwhelming. Lets partner!
Expectations
Below are the expectations departments will need to meet to use this service:
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