Case Study - Increasing Revenue With Custom Data Exports
THE BRIEF
A business I work with has a long standing relationship with their main technology provider. However, that provider can only export CSV data via sFTP in one specific format.
My customer wanted to send custom exports to their own clients. Each customer requires certain columns to be added/removed from the standard CSV exports and some customers want to receive the data via email or over an API, instead of using sFTP.
THE RESULT
- 15+ customers signed for custom exports at additional cost
- The technology cost to run the exports is less than £1 per month
"Greg is the GOAT when it comes to this kind of project"
Managing Director, Customer Company
THE CUSTOM AUTOMATION
The solution I deployed is:
- Highly scalable to handle the volume of data required
- Quick & simple to deploy
- Easily customisable for each case it is deployed for
- Inexpensive to run frequently and infinitely
For each customer, a Python function is deployed to Google Cloud Platform, which: collects the raw CSV data from the initial tech providers FTP location; re-arranges/filters/appends to the data; posts the data to a new sFTP location/API endpoint/further process for email sending.
If the exports are sent via email, the Python function delivers the data to a Google Sheet. Then, an Apps Script project uses the native GMail API connector to send the sheet as CSV data to the customer's email address. Extra processing and human checks can also be done in the Google Sheet.
The process is triggered by Cloud Scheduler sending a message via Cloud Pub/Sub. When Apps Script is used to send data via email, native Apps Sript Triggers start this process, set to trigger after the Python function has completed.
