Case study: Data apprenticeships drive digital transformation within a global technology company

Jonathan Wagstaff is the Group Head of Business Intelligence at Exertis, who started a Level 4 Data Analyst Apprentice in June 2021 to support his team with first-hand knowledge of the latest programming languages, short-cuts, tools and techniques.

Exertis is one of the UK’s largest and fastest growing distributors of technology products and specialist services. Their customers are retailers and companies that resell technology products that people use every day in their home, office or on the move.

Jonathan Wagstaff is the Group Head of Business Intelligence and a data apprentice on the Level 4 Data Analyst programme. He manages a team of data analysts working with large data sets relating to HR, market and business intelligence, financial developments, operations, logistics and infrastructure. His team supports different business units globally by collecting, cleaning and analysing data so insights can then be shared with the organisation for planning and forecasting purposes.

We are a business intelligence function, we live and breathe data. We want every team and department in the business to benefit from the full power of being a truly data driven organisation. I strive to make the dry material we work with, fun and interesting so everyone can be infused and inspired by the potential of it.”

Jonathan Wagstaff, Group Head of Business Intelligence

Jonathan’s team work with and manage a lot of data. They can be modelling inventory systems, sales and stock one day and finding potential new business opportunities the next. As a company, Exertis embraced analytics and data analysis early on, leading the industry. The Level 4 Data Analyst apprenticeship is about upskilling Jonathan’s team with the latest capabilities in terms of forecasting and decision making so they can keep up with the rapid evolution of data analysis techniques, continue to achieve things faster and increase levels of data literacy across the organisation.

Apprentices learn through live lectures and assignments. They are supported by technical mentor, a coach and feedback from EDUKATE.AI, Cambridge Spark’s online learning platform for data science, which is where they access learning content and assignments.

All of the content and assignments are built on real-data sets to help apprentices understand how data skills are applied in the workplace.

Everyone in my team is a data apprentice. We’ve become significantly more productive by automating a lot of slow, manual processes which frees us up to do more interesting tasks. No-one is scrambling with spreadsheets anymore. We can share meaningful business intelligence in less time, with greater accuracy. This improves morale across the board and delights our stakeholders.”

Jonathan Wagstaff, Group Head of Business Intelligence

Jonathan’s team are at different stages in their career and bring different skills and experience to the business. The discipline of a data apprenticeship keeps their skills up to date and provides a consistent level of knowledge that the whole team benefits from. For recent graduates at the beginning of their career, a data apprenticeship provides practical knowledge beyond the theory along with the confidence to begin applying it immediately.

Jonathan’s personal motivations for taking the data scientist apprenticeship were based on the ability to support his team with first-hand knowledge of what’s new in all of their day-to-day roles.

Everything evolves and changes so quickly. Despite my understanding of data science techniques, a lot of what I learned has been surpassed by new programming languages, short cuts, tools and techniques. I want hands on experience of everything relating to automation and machine learning that wasn’t around outside of labs and colleges when I started my career. My ability to troubleshoot data challenges and roadblocks with my team is important to me. I would like us to reach a skills level that allows us to support each other.”

Jonathan Wagstaff, Group Head of Business Intelligence

Cambridge Spark are currently enrolling for the next cohort of the Level 4 Data Analyst Apprenticeship. Get in touch with the team using the form below to find out how we can help your organisation build data analytics capability.