Knight Frank
Client
Knight Frank
Company
Global Real Estate Consultancy
Industry
Real Estate
Services
Advise, Design & Build
Global real estate consultants Knight Frank and Cynozure started working together in early 2020 and have since partnered on a number of projects.
Simon Hayter, Partner and Group Head of Data at Knight Frank LLP, explains, “We initially started working with Cynozure to scale our data capabilities through the design and build of a new data platform. We already had a very advanced analytics capability but had challenges to scale due to the infrastructure. Since then, we’ve continued to work with the team on a number of projects and have totally reshaped how we manage and use our data.”
Choosing a data transformation partner.
After a market review process during which Knight Frank engaged with multiple service providers, Knight Frank chose Cynozure as its data partner.
Speaking of the decision, Simon Hayter comments: “Out of the agencies that we met, most felt like a copy and paste job, following a standard “white paper model” without truly understanding the client. We knew what our strategy and long-term vision was, but we needed the right partner to help accelerate the delivery.”
“Cynozure stood out by demonstrating a high level of technical experience and clearly demonstrated that they had the capabilities to help deliver what we needed.”
“They fully understood our strategy and advised the best technical tools to implement. The team has niche data expertise and are collaborative and personable – all important ingredients for a successful working relationship. It helped too, that I had already heard of Cynozure – they are heavily involved in the data community, both as individuals and the company as a whole.”
What we did
Building a new data platform.
1.
Once selected, the first stage was building a new data platform for Knight Frank that would act as a foundational capability for the business to build upon. Following the successful launch of the platform, Cynozure went on to support Knight Frank build out a high-level map of their data, enabling the organisation to understand where data lived and how it flowed between systems.
Ensuring accuracy, quality, and engagement.
2.
Being such a large business with offices around the world means that Knight Frank has large volumes of data flowing through its systems at any one time. The challenge was to understand where and what the data is, which team it’s relevant for, and how accurate it is.
This meant mapping its path through the organisation, as Jason Foster, CEO and Founder of Cynozure explains: “We created data flow maps that tracked the journey of a piece of data through the organisation. From there, we were able to identify any areas where there were inaccuracies in the data – be that duplication or out-of-date information. Think of it like a house blueprint – the data strategy and platform build were the foundations and walls of the house, and now it’s about fine tuning the plumbing and electrics – or data flow maps.”
A big part of this was improving the output in both speed and quality, as Simon explains:
“By creating our new data platform we’ve been able to consolidate a number of our disparate sources. This in turn has enabled us to support the business with a far greater understanding of our client needs and business performance, driving efficiencies across the business in gathering information as well as identifying new opportunities to target.
The engagement with the platform continues to grow, with increasing numbers of requests from the team.”
An ongoing partnership.
3.
Simon Hayter notes, “The work we have done in partnership with Cynozure has delivered even more than anticipated and far exceeded my expectations. It proves what can be done with the right vision and team spirit. The quality of the projects we’ve delivered have shown over and over why Cynozure was the right choice.”
Jason adds: “Working with Knight Frank has been an enjoyable and hugely rewarding experience for all involved. Projects like this that genuinely make a positive difference to the way a business manages, stores, and engages with its data is why we do what we do.”
If you would like to find out more, watch our on-demand webinar Build a Future–Proof Data Platform with James Lupton, CTO at Cynozure.
