DataFlex Inc. Case Study | Metric Harmony

Company Overview

Industry & Size:

Mid-market tech company with ~500 employees
10-person data team
Heavy reliance on a central "metrics repository" and multiple BI dashboards

Key Data Environment:

PostgreSQL

Storing transactional data

Power BI Dashboards

Used by finance, product, and marketing

Legacy Metrics Repository

Ballooned to 10,000+ entries

The Challenge

Explosive Metric Growth

In just 2 years, their internal "metrics repo" went from a handful to 10,000+ variations (e.g., "MonthlySubscriptionRevenue", "Monthly_Revenue_Net", etc.), with many overlapping or contradictory definitions.

Technical vs. Business Disconnect

Data engineers focused on technical metadata (schemas, queries) while business teams found the definitions cryptic.
The official data dictionary rarely got updated.

Trust Erosion

Monthly leadership meetings derailed into arguments over which revenue figure was correct.
CFO's "Net MRR" versus product analytics' "MRR" had a 20% discrepancy.
Teams lost confidence and began relying on gut feeling rather than data.

Why DataFlex Called Metric Harmony

They needed rapid alignment without the heavy overhead of a full-blown governance tool. DataFlex was drawn to a 2–3 week sprint focused on human-centric alignment – a targeted approach to resolve the top metrics (MRR, churn, active users) and produce a single source of truth in a simple doc or wiki.

The CFO was fed up with reconciling contradictory "monthly revenue" figures and leadership wanted a fast fix – not a 6-month data governance project.

Engagement Scope

Primary Metrics to Align:

Monthly Net Revenue
Churn Rate
Active Users
Marketing Conversion Rate

Data Sources & Tools:

PostgreSQL (finance and product usage)
Power BI Dashboards
Legacy metrics repo with ad-hoc metric creation

Deliverables:

A short Notion-based document capturing unified definitions
Clear "ownership" for each metric (e.g., CFO owns the MRR formula)
A monthly maintenance plan with quick check-ins to keep definitions current

Process & Key Activities

1

Interviews & Discovery

Conducted interviews with stakeholders (finance manager, product analyst, marketing lead, data engineer) to surface each team's "version" of the metrics.
Reviewed existing dashboards to spot discrepancies (e.g., "Net MRR" vs. "Monthly_Revenue_Net").

2

Conflict Resolution Workshop

A 2-hour virtual session with finance, product, marketing, and the data team.
Displayed side-by-side definitions to highlight differences.
Agreed on "Net MRR" for official board reports, separating annual upsells into a distinct category.

3

Documentation & Ownership

Created a living "Metrics Handbook" in Notion documenting each metric (formula, data sources, owner).
Included any known exceptions (e.g., "Finance excludes seat add-ons in MRR").
Set up a monthly or quarterly review cycle to keep definitions updated.

Results & Insights

Reduced Confusion: Leadership meetings no longer stall over "Which number is right?" and both CFO and product leads consistently reference the Notion document.
Faster Alignment on New Initiatives: Marketing and finance check the doc first before introducing new revenue metrics, freeing up analysts' time.
Live Source of Truth: A data engineer runs monthly check-ins to merge new or overlapping definitions; the document is directly linked from Power BI for transparency.

Reflection & Takeaways

From Chaos to Clarity

DataFlex learned that targeted alignment on key metrics was sufficient – they didn't need a huge governance suite.

Cultural Shift

Capturing definitions in plain English improved trust across teams.

Scalable Approach

While they can adopt a heavier platform later if needed, the immediate chaos was quelled in just a couple of weeks.

Case Study: DataFlex Inc.