CURE International Streamlines Global Data Operations with Shipyard

CURE International, a Christian nonprofit organization operating eight hospitals across Africa and the Philippines, performs life-changing surgeries for children with treatable disabilities.

Kevin de Smidt, Head of Technology at CURE International, leads a dedicated team with a clear mission: leverage data and technology to maximize the impact of CURE International's humanitarian efforts.

Data Management Opportunities

“One of the key areas that our CEO and the executive leadership team want us to focus on is leveraging the data that's available across our organization,” said Kevin. “CURE is funded by donors and partners, so we have to be as efficient as possible with all of our resources.”

With a small team and operations spread across multiple countries, efficiently managing and leveraging data posed a challenge for CURE.

“This spurred us on to say, okay, where’s the data? Well, it was in many different
systems. Data is being created everywhere in our organization from fundraising and donor relationship management all the way through logistics, our global supply chain, marketing, and human resources,” said Kevin.

And then at CURE’s hospitals, they’re dealing with all of the electronic medical records, inventory and asset management data, etc.”

“Our goal was to get to a point where all of this data is providing us with insights into our organization, how it's running, and how the different lines of business can gain efficiencies, so that we can use our donor dollars to the best advantage,” continued Kevin.

So CURE had to figure out how best to build pipelines that bring all of that data from different sources all over the world and make it actionable. This meant empowering executives and other department heads to make better-informed business decisions.

Kevin’s criteria for choosing a data operations platform included security, a cloud-based, provider-managed infrastructure, rapid deployment, power and flexibility, and outstanding support.

“We were also seeking a partner,” said Kevin. “It was important that we found a company that listened to our requests and feedback, was nimble, responsive, and would be with us for years to come.”

Vendor Evaluation

“We looked at a number of different platforms during our search,” said Kevin. “They were mostly open-source and those systems are quite complex to master and effectively use, with a steep learning curve. It is not cost-effective for us to be building and managing our own infrastructure, or coding everything ourselves, and all of the additional manual and confusing work that comes with say Apache Airflow.”

Kevin is also a cloud-first proponent. “Obviously, we could run those other tools in a cloud platform, but that just adds the additional overhead of managing and monitoring the system ourselves,” he said.

Shipyard builds and manages all of the infrastructure and is also a cloud-based platform.

“I found Shipyard to be an extremely attractive option when I first came across it,” said Kevin. “The more I learned about the platform and the team supporting it, the clearer it became that Shipyard aligned perfectly with our requirements. In the end, choosing Shipyard was an easy choice."

Security

Given the sensitive nature of medical and nonprofit data, security was a top priority for CURE.

Shipyard's robust security features, including single sign-on (SSO), multi-factor authentication, and secure storage of credentials, provides Kevin and his team with peace of mind.

"We're dealing with very sensitive data, and the fact that we don't store any data in Shipyard, thanks to ephemeral file storage, is terrific," Kevin emphasizes.

Shipyard’s comprehensive security measures ensure the integrity and confidentiality of CURE's data passing through the Shipyard platform, safeguarding patient information and organizational data against potential threats.

Quick Deployment

The complexity of CURE International's operations demanded a solution that could be quickly deployed and easily managed.

The platform's low-code templates and seamless integration with Google services allow Kevin's team to set up and deploy data pipelines in minutes.

“Shipyard's templates save us a tremendous amount of time and they’re very powerful,” said Kevin. “It’s just a matter of selecting a needed template and securely entering our credentials."

Besides being an easy process, Shipyard allows users to reuse the securely stored credentials when connecting to other data sources.

“And what’s most important to us is that we know they’re safe and secure," added Kevin.

Shipyard’s ease of use and the ability to accomplish tasks in minutes have exceeded CURE’s expectations. "This is usually not the case with these types of solutions,” noted Kevin.

Powerful Workflows

CURE International's diverse use cases require a robust and flexible solution. Shipyard's flexible architecture allows CURE to orchestrate complex data workflows effortlessly.

“What’s especially helpful is that the templates are open-source,” said Kevin. “We’re able to have a peek inside and, if needed, make any changes using our own code to meet CURE’s specific needs. But we’re still able to fully code within Shipyard, and we do this using Python. For example, I have a data scientist based in Kenya and he and I work closely together to automate a number of data pipeline jobs using Shipyard. Shipyard-provided templates can also be combined with our own custom Shipyard vessels that we have written in-house using Python. I love the fact that we get the best of both worlds, and the low-code templates and our code live and work together perfectly.”

Kevin emphasized Shipyard’s ability to string together diverse jobs from various data sources into cohesive workflows. Today, CURE is powering nearly 100 workflows using Shipyard.

“Shipyard has proven invaluable,” said Kevin. “It’s enabling data extraction, loading, and transformation, with precision and efficiency.

“By harnessing Shipyard's powerful capabilities, we’ve enhanced our operational
efficiency and driven continuous improvement across our global network of hospitals and team members in different countries.”

Customer Support

Shipyard's commitment to customer support further solidified its position as the platform of choice for CURE International. Kevin highlights the Shipyard team’s responsiveness and helpfulness, emphasizing the importance of timely assistance in managing real-time data operations.

“During the implementation process, Shipyard’s knowledgeable team provided invaluable support, addressing questions and ensuring a smooth transition to their platform. I've been very happy with the responsiveness of support," says Kevin. "Shipyard has been wonderful in helping us solve any problems and always pointing us in the right direction."

Impact

Since implementing Shipyard, CURE International has achieved significant efficiency gains in managing and processing data from disparate sources. With the ability to build and deploy workflows in minutes, Kevin's small team has been able to focus on leveraging insights from data to drive organizational impact.

Shipyard's user-friendly interface and intuitive workflow design have accelerated onboarding for new staff members and allowed for global collaboration, ensuring continuity and efficiency in data operations.

“Shipyard helps us to facilitate informed decision-making across our entire global organization,” said Kevin. “The end result has been better use of our resources, and delivery of critical medical services to children in need.”

Conclusion

Shipyard has been instrumental in helping CURE to transform its data operations enabling the organization to leverage the full potential of its data for impactful decision making and improved patient care.

“The time and money we’re saving through leveraging the Shipyard platform is helping drive better operational decisions across our entire global team which allows us to help more children in need. That’s real value, and Shipyard is helping us to deliver more of it every day.”

With its ease of use, quick deployment, powerful workflows, and robust security features, Shipyard has become an indispensable tool for Kevin and his team.

“We’ve been partnering with Shipyard for three years, and it’s been a pleasure. I highly recommend them to any organization seeking to optimize and transform their data operations,” concluded Kevin.

As CURE International continues to expand its operations and impact, Shipyard will remain a key partner in their journey towards making a difference in the lives of children in the developing countries where they serve.