Success Stories

SeaLink’s journey of digital transformation with Snowflake and Informatica

Written by ClearPoint | Apr 30, 2025 11:15:35 PM

Since 1960, SeaLink New Zealand (SeaLink) has been providing safe, reliable, and efficient ferry services for vehicles, passengers, and freight across Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, including Waiheke and Great Barrier Islands. With deep expertise in the unique logistical challenges of island transport, SeaLink is committed to supporting the communities it serves.

Beyond its core transport services, SeaLink is focused on modernising its operations. With multiple operational, financial, and internal systems supporting its daily activities, the company envisions building a future-ready business intelligence data platform. This will enable more efficient reporting and data-driven decision-making to enhance service delivery and operational performance.

 

The driving force

 

Supporting their vision for making data driven decisions, SeaLink wanted to use modern cloud technologies to improve understanding of key business drivers to support sales and operational activities. 

Historically, reporting processes were manual, time-consuming, and fragmented across departments. This lack of centralised, up-to-date visibility created inefficiencies and limited the organisation’s ability to make proactive, informed decisions. SeaLink needed an integrated data platform that would automate reporting  and support continuous improvement.

 

Our approach

 

SeaLink chose ClearPoint as their consulting partner recognising its expertise in blending technology, business transformation, and continuous improvement. Through ClearPoint’s guidance, SeaLink selected Snowflake and Informatica as its core technology platforms for data management and analytics. These solutions provided the scalability and flexibility needed to transition into a fully data-driven business. Read more about how SeaLink selected its core data platforms here.

SeaLink gained the ability to consolidate and analyse data from multiple sources by implementing this modern cloud-based data platform. It improves efficiency and supports strategic decision-making.

 

The outcome

 

Where SeaLink previously spent hours each month preparing figures for external compliance, now the figures auto generate in the correct format when they are required. "We were spending most of our time preparing data and reporting each month, that is gone, it’s all just there now," says Kieren. “We are spending time asking better questions about our data and finding the answers with ease.”

The transformation delivered significant operational benefits, including:

  • Fully automated key business measures, eliminating manual data preparation across the organisation.

  • Self-service access to near-time insights, enabling teams to make data-driven decisions on demand.

  • Enhanced revenue visibility, allowing for the identification of potential revenue leakage and more effective financial oversight.

  • Improved operational transparency, ensuring that changes to business processes could be accurately measured and optimised.

The solution enables Sealink to gain answers about the business that in the past was thought to be hard and impossible. 

We are no longer saying ‘it can’t be done’, but rather ‘what else can we do?’”

- Kieren Bainbridge, IT Manager, SeaLink NZ

With a strong data infrastructure in place, SeaLink is now well-positioned to drive innovation and continue delivering high-quality services to the communities it serves.

 

Strong data foundation equips organisations to plan and execute smarter. Looking to modernise your data environment and discover real business value? Contact us to find out how we can support your transformation.