Meet our Business Intelligence Specialist

Posted on: 25 March 2025 in Meet our Team

Sally Newey wrangles data from across the University to make it fit for reports and visualisations that feed our Business Intelligence.

Hello! Please introduce yourself.

Hi, I'm Sally Newey and I'm a Business Intelligence Specialist in the Business Intelligence Team.

How long have you worked in IT Services?

I've been in IT Services for over 14 years, and at the University for 17 and a half years.

What are some of the day-to-day activities in your role?

It can vary, but I check that jobs feeding our data warehouse, where we take the data from different systems across the University and then transform it for use in reporting and analytics, have run as they should.  If I have support calls to deal with, I check on those. I’m usually doing projects or changes so I carry on with working on my main area of expertise which is moving and transforming data into the data warehouse. I also advise other members of the team on things like Business Objects reports as I've been in the team from its inception.

What is the data warehouse?

This is the official institutional data area, holding different data sets on the University data at different levels, for example, attendance data. The data warehouse enables reporting and analytics from low level to high level in a standardised format.

What's something people would never know or guess about your job?

Most people just think it is Business Objects at the end, but it isn't.

What's the best thing about working in your team?

It’s very relaxed team, there's no pressure, plus our users are lovely.

What’s the most difficult thing about your job?

Getting reporting requirements from our users.

What's one piece of advice you’d give to staff or students to help them get the most out of IT Services?

When requesting help, put as much information in the call description as you can and make the header informative. It means we can look at issues or queries more promptly.

What would you like staff to know about your role and team?

If it's for an institutional system, we are here to look at creating or supporting reports and visualisations for you, although we might not always be able to do it straight away.

What's your favourite snack?

Flapjacks, and none of the fancy ones.

What are your three desert island items?

A long wave radio, a wind-up battery, and a big umbrella.