Internet startup launches while embracing adoption

When Brightspeed launched in 2022, the fiber broadband internet service had ambitious goals, acquiring a service territory encompassing more than 6.5 million locations in mainly rural and suburban communities in 20 U.S. states.

As the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company planned its fiber build plan across its footprint, the company’s IT specialists realized that, with artificial intelligence (AI) emerging as the consummate transformative technology, Brightspeed needed to embrace adoption or fall behind.

In particular, the company had to integrate billing data from SAP S/4HANA, an enterprise resource planning software designed specifically for large enterprises, with SAP Billing and Revenue Innovation Management (BRIM) and replicate the information to Google BigQuery, a fully managed, AI-ready data analytics platform.

Once the system was up and running, Brightspeed would have the ability to operate in multiple formats and multiple engines in real time via the cloud. However, the transition would be challenging.

With millions of records to filter, comprising several terabytes (TB) of data, the IT team was hampered with processes that were manual and repetitive. The poor data quality distorted findings and compromised real-time decisions, as well as created unpredictable scenarios that had to be remedied one at a time.

With plans to reach more than three million new fiber network passings – locations where the company connects fiber to homes and businesses – change was essential and could only be achieved by implementing a seamless adoption strategy.

Harmonizing data

The project to adopt the existing technologies and replicate the data on Google BigQuery launched with the inherent knowledge that it would be impossible to successfully manage voluminous, multiple gigabyte (GB) transactions daily without first achieving data harmonization.

It required Brightspeed to provide information on revenue, payments, receivables, and payables using accurate, real-time numbers to support recognized revenue, revenue reported, deferred revenue and payment summaries; resolve disputes; and help with dunning – the process of regularly reminding customers that a particular bill was due.

This would require data semantics, an understanding of the components in a database and their relation to each other, as well as data fabrics, the architecture facilitating end-to-end integration of the various data pipelines and cloud environments.

The world’s leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendor, SAP, was selected to spearhead the undertaking for a variety of reasons, including its SAP Datasphere solution, renowned for converting businesses to data-driven enterprises, and the existing partnership with Google Cloud.  

Once the project was completed, Google BigQuery users would have the ability to ingest real-time billing and finance information from SAP BRIM, which specializes in businesses with high volumes of customers, subscriptions, and pay-per-use transactions, as well as established ERP software SAP S/4HANA.

In addition to the range of enterprise-grade data and analytics solutions available from SAP, the multinational’s management and solutions (M&S) teams have taken an active role in supporting customers with adoption and consumption.

Making the most of each digital opportunity

The integration, completed in January 2024, provided Brightspeed with a new cloud-based replication tool automating integration into Google BigQuery, eliminating manual processes and repetitive tasks.

The real-time analytics now available to the internet service provider allow in-the-moment decision-making in areas that had been challenging in the past, increasing data load replication three times.

The elimination of the manual system has also enabled Brightspeed to save 2,000 work hours each year, which is time that can be utilized to drive faster innovation.

Also, it increased the accuracy in the recognition of revenue, payment issues, and disputes by 76 percent.

Rather than end-of-day payment reports, workers are able to receive updates either in real-time or hourly.

This has saved Brightspeed approximately 80 hours of work each week.

Having remedied a pressing IT challenge, Brightspeed now has the platform necessary to empower the company’s transformation into a truly intelligent enterprise.

Brightspeed was named a winner in the “Transformation Titan” category at the SAP Innovation Awards 2024, an annual ceremony recognizing organizations using SAP technologies to make a difference.

By continuing to utilize these and other readily accessible tools, the company can more easily introduce more digital opportunities and use them to their full potential. You can read more about what Brightspeed did to earn this coveted award in their pitch deck.