Data and a Dash: Episode 43 with QBeeQ

“We're not just here to optimize Sisense—

we're here to redefine how organizations interact with their data.” 

– Ido Darnell, CEO QBeeQ

In Episode 43 of Data and a Dash, hosts Kos Russell sits down with Ido Darnell from QBeeQ, a premier Sisense Implementation and Solution Partner. Ido shares insights into how QBeeQ helps organizations maximize their Sisense deployment, optimize Snowflake costs, and bridge the gap between self-service analytics and enterprise needs. From powerful plugins to cutting-edge integrations, this episode explores the evolving data landscape and how QBeeQ stays ahead of the curve.

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Key Takeaways:

• Optimizing Sisense with Power-Ups – QBeeQ offers 70+ plugins categorized into seven bundles, enhancing Sisense functionality for better data visualization, mapping, and self-service analytics.

• Snowflake Cost Optimization – QBeeQ’s upcoming tool helps businesses forecast and reduce Snowflake expenses, with some clients cutting costs by over 40%.

• Expanding the Data Stream – New integrations with Google Sheets and Google Slides will allow organizations to extend their analytics beyond dashboards into deeper insights and reporting.

• Industry Focus for 2025 – Cybersecurity, healthcare, and logistics are key verticals where Sisense and QBeeQ see major growth opportunities.

• Customer-Centric Approach – QBeeQ stands out with a dedicated customer success function, ensuring clients maximize their analytics investment with ongoing support and guidance.

📌 “The biggest fear organizations have is tech debt, but with the right approach, a transformation that seems years away can happen in just a few months.” – Ido Darnell

Expand to read the episode transcript

Data and a Dash EP43

Welcome to the Data Model in a Dash podcast, where you'll hear real-world experiences of what's happening on our teams across the globe, including celebrations of accomplishments, cross-team collaborations, lessons learned, and innovative solutions for making our Sisense customers wildly successful. 

Koz Russell: Today we're joined by Ido Darnell. Ido, how are you doing today? 

Ido Darnell: Great, thank you very much for having me, Kaz and Lisa. It's really exciting to be on your podcast. This is actually my first time on a podcast, so I'm really excited. 

KR: Awesome, fantastic. We're thrilled to have you, and I know we're going to have quite the enlightening conversation. So, as I'm sure you know, we start the show with our same favorite go-to question. You ready? 

ID: I'm ready.

KR: If you had to pick an actor to play the role of you in the movie Sisense, who would it be and why? 

ID: Oh, actor. Well, I really like Jim Carrey, although I'm not sure about his performances as of lately, not on-screen and off-screen. He's becoming a bit crazy over the past few years, but I definitely adore Jim Carrey and all of his movies. So, yeah, maybe, you know, keep it silly, keep it crazy. I'll definitely go with Jim Carrey. Love that.

KR: I'm a massive Jim Carrey fan. The Grinch is one of my all-time favorite movies. Which Jim Carrey movie are you going with? 

ID: I'll go with all the, you know, the classic pet detectives, Ace Ventura. How did they not make a third Ace Ventura yet? This is just, it blows my mind. I'd go see it immediately. 

KR: Likewise. Love it. Well, you know, appreciate you taking the time to join us and particularly blocking out some time in your schedule to give more insight into your story. I'm particularly looking forward to this episode as I think we've spoken more the last three weeks than we have over the past four years and you have a lot to share.

So, let's start from the top. Who is QBeeQ and what do you do? 

ID: Great. So, QBeeQ is a Gold Sisense Implementation and Solution Partner. And I know that there's a big discussion about if it's QBeeQ (Q-bic or QBQ). So, we actually started off as QBQ. And then a few years ago, we kind of switched it to “QBQ”, just so that everybody has one more thing to talk about us.

But the reasoning behind QBeeQ is basically like a data cube, like the last cube. You know, everything in data is dimensional and QBeeQ. So, we just thought we'd go in that direction.

So, we're a Gold Implementation and Solution Partner for Sisense. And we basically provide two main offerings, like I just mentioned. The first is services, professional services, which is anything and everything Sisense related, be it hands-on Sisense from data modeling, live connections, scheme optimization, front-end, if it's dashboarding, reporting, advanced analytics, data science, you know, with notebooks and CDT if need be.

But it's also the entire surrounding infrastructure, architecture, upgrades, deployments, and really making sure that everything is tailor-suited for any type of specific custom deployment. 

We've seen hundreds of different Sisense implementations, and we know that each one tends to be quite unique. And so, we also provide that surrounding service.

And in terms of the custom solutions, you know, we develop plugins, scripts, add-ons. We have some 70, 7-0, as of today, plug-and-play plugins for Sisense. And we categorize them into bundles, which we call power-ups.

The reasoning behind a power-up, the term, is if you think about Super Mario, when he runs into one of those stars, he kind of gets like a power-up, you know? So, these power-ups are here to really take any Sisense deployment to the next level. Our power-ups, we've got seven power-ups, which we break down into advanced data visualizations. This is over 30 jaw-dropping visuals, which are tailor-suited for the Sisense deployment.

Maps, we provide the ultimate mapping solutions for any Sisense deployment need, geospatial analytics that any Sisense customer may need. Self-service analytics, which was our big focus over the past year, basically bridging the gap between viewer users and designer users. We know that there's a big gap there in between.

So, we really wanted to empower viewers to be able to do much more on their own and reduce their dependency on designers, basically making them masters of their own ad hoc analytics. We've got admin tools, collaboration, interactive design, and financial tools. Everything is on our website in more detail.

And breakdown of the services, we break those down into three main categories. If it's analytics tasks, which is dashboard or dashboard design, ElastiCube, or live modeling and schema optimization, performance and monitoring, infrastructure, and architecture. And we actually just recently announced that we're also now a Snowflake select-level services provider.

So, we really bring in that extra added value for up the data stream for Snowflake implementations. 

KR: Awesome. Fantastic. You outlined a number of different things there. And that's one of the reasons I was so excited to have this episode in particular is you're often widely recognized for your plugins and you documented some of those, but you provide much more than that.

Out of the services and things that you offer, where would you say you spend the majority of your time or where you deliver the most value, whether it's around going through some things with implementation, the architecture piece, really helping people understand the value from the plugins.

What becomes prioritized from your side as you see it where customers get the most value? 

ID: I think the main benefit or the main differentiator that we bring to the table is that we really provide this plethora of different offerings. We've seen it all. We've implemented any type of vertical or industry.

And so, the fact that we're able to bring in not just services, implementation, professional services, and plugins, and up the data stream, our experience and expertise, not sure if you know or mentioned, but our team is composed of ex-Sisense people or ex-Sisense employees, that is. If it's myself or Mia Isaacson, which is a recent hire of ours, which we absolutely adore. I know that everybody at Sisense does too. Ex-Sisense customers, ex-Sisense partners. So, our experience and expertise together with our existing offerings really brings that wide range. And we define ourselves as a one-stop shop for any type of Sisense customer deployment.

So, we really like to offer everything as we progress with our customers. 

KR: Yeah, absolutely. And to that point, with you having so many former Sisense folks and a strong understanding of the partnership and the ecosystem, you're constantly innovating and evolving your offerings to help customers just get the most out of this partnership that we have.

What are some of the initiatives that you have on your roadmap for 2025 that you're excited about? 

ID: Well, it definitely has to do with our recent partnership with Snowflake. We're not just taking our existing customers and new customers, which are either on or not on yet some kind of Cloud Data Warehouse, if it's Snowflake or Databricks or be it whichever. We're really looking to strengthen the bond between Sisense and Snowflake.

We're not just here to provide these consulting services implementation, make Sisense work better and perform better with this Cloud, any type of Cloud Data Warehouse. Specifically, we are focused on Snowflake, but we do provide other services as well. We're about to release a set of optimization tools for Sisense schemas and dashboards based off of Snowflake.

And so any BI developer or a Sisense customer will be able to foresee expected Snowflake costs and credit consumption ahead of time using our tool. They'll be able to see which dashboards and even boil it down to the specific widget and formula, which would be the relatively most costly query even before they're charged for the first time. And so that way, those customers will be able to come and say, all right, this specific widget may not be designed correctly.

We'll be able to design better in order to cut costs from Snowflake moving forward. So strengthening the bonds between Snowflake and Sisense, that's one of our big focuses. 

We're also about to release our Google Sheets integration and soon our Google Slides.

So I was just on a call earlier today with Linda's team, Linda de Hoop from Amsterdam together with Rohan and her international EMEA team. And we kind of talked about, it's not just about us giving focus up to data stream, pre-Sisense, it's also about post-Sisense. And so many times, a data strategy or a data story doesn't end with dashboards.

It ends with insights. And Sisense being such a powerful tool, we want to extend that data stream, allowing your customers to extend the stream and allow for further exports from Sisense down over to Google Sheets or Google Slides if it's for reporting or if it's for further transformation on Google Suite. And of course, we're constantly releasing more and more advanced visualizations and self-service plugins to our power-ups, definitely maps.

And specifically, our map is going through a revamp now to be called, don't tell anybody, I know this is broadcasted internally to Sisense, we're about to release it, but our map will be rebranded as a super map, the super map, and the expanded pivot will be rebranded as the super pivot. Keep it simple. We don't want to confuse with complex names, but basically we're just continuing to focus on enhancing all of our existing offerings because it's being widely used throughout the entire Sisense ecosystem and constantly adding more and more plugins to our various power-ups horizontally.

KR: Love it. I want to go back to something that you brought up in the beginning around optimizing the integration between Snowflake and Sisense and particularly optimization of costs. I often hear that Snowflake is very expensive. And so I imagine that when people listen to this, I know I'll speak on behalf of my sales team, they'll be excited around that because they have a lot of conversations with TCO. 

What is the timeline around when that plugin, that functionality, the integration that you're talking about will be accessible to the folks here at Sisense to be able to talk through the integration and those capabilities? 

ID: So it's actually already 90% ready. We're just doing some few iterations with some beta group of already live with several customers and that'll be released.

But ultimately it'll be just a set of an elastic schema and a few dashboards, possibly a few Python scripts behind the scenes, but that'll be ready. And the great thing about that, by the way, is that it'll be very easily deployed on any Sisense deployment that's already working with Snowflake. So there won't be any kind of installation or setup or just import it into your Sisense front end and you'll already see that working.

But specifically, talking about that cost optimization and performance optimization, that's what actually brought us into becoming a Snowflake partner to begin with. We kind of naturally evolved together with our existing customers. 

Many existing Sisense customers already shifted from their old legacy. They kind of outgrew their legacy data sources and naturally evolved into Snowflake. And we realized that more and more customers are kind of evolving to Snowflake. So we just naturally evolved together with them.

So it's a real blessing to kind of thank our ecosystem for constantly nurturing each other. That's just the best way to kind of have a very, very efficient ecosystem, which is constantly nurturing each other. Specifically, we've got a case study on our website, which we're actually just about to kind of re-release with an existing customer of ours, GridMatrix.

We started working with them two years ago, I guess, with a few plugins here and there and some services. And very quickly, they brought their very high existing Snowflake consumption to the table for us to just consult with us. They were at some point spending more than 30k a month on their Snowflake costs.

They said, hey, have a look, what can we do with this? We kind of looked at how they're onboarding new customers with Sisense. We kind of looked to see if there's certain optimizations within Sisense that can be done and went through and did like a complete bottom-up approach to kind of reconstruct their entire Snowflake deployment. And within two months, we were able to cut those costs by more than 40%.

And today, they're well below 6k a month. And that's all that was done two years ago. And that's constantly being optimized.

And so this tool that we're about to release, optimization tool, it won't bring the customer to a pain point. It will prevent that pain point to begin with, because they'll be able to foresee such expected expenditure. And they'll be able to cut potential costs even before that happened down to the individual widgets.

So we're very excited about that. 

KR: Yeah, it's incredibly massive. I mean, anytime you hear reduction in spend with Snowflake, I mean, one, with it being 30k a month, and then coming down to below 6k, that's quantifiable business impact that anyone will be very satisfied with.

And I think the prevalent theme here is just data strategy. And as we think about the infrastructure that folks have in place, and I know with the services that you provide and the plugins, come across a lot of different tech stacks, and what I imagine would be accumulation of tech debt. What are some of the most common tech stacks you're seeing as you work with a number of organizations across different verticals? Do you see typically like dbt? How often do you see Snowflake? Which ones stand out to you? 

ID: Well, obviously, Snowflake, also, I guess now it's just because we're drawing this attention from the from our ecosystem of becoming a partner.

So we know we're getting more attention around that area. So it's definitely Snowflake, and also definitely dbt. We're constantly expanding our offerings, but definitely Snowflake.

Databricks has been growing, though not as much as Snowflake. So we are focusing more on Snowflake. But yeah, definitely, you know, it's a classic and natural move for organizations of the typical Sisense customer, let alone internal analytics.

You know, if we're talking about already managed by Sisense or managed by other cloud SaaS, it's only natural for those organizations to evolve to Snowflake. 

KR: Yeah, absolutely. And doubling down on that in regards to the tech debt, would you say that as you look at things holistically with the tech infrastructure and the data infrastructure that's in place, a significant portion of the spend that these companies allocate will be towards these cloud data warehouses, and they're always looking for ways to optimize it? Or where would you say the accumulation of that tech debt could be? 

ID: That's a great point.

And I think that's something that many organizations, that's, you know, probably the number one reason for organizations to be a bit reluctant from making such drastic moves is that tech debt and it's, you know, internal know-how and it's planning how long these processes can take. I think the fact that Sisense is so supportive of, you know, these major cloud data warehouses, it really helps organizations be much more, feel much more comfortable in making these changes. Having this partner ecosystem that Sisense nurtures, if it's us or other partners out there, I know that there's a few partners out there in the U.S. that also focus on Snowflake, having this supportive ecosystem as third parties and not just having to kind of, you know, quote, trust Sisense on, trust us, this move over to Snowflake, we'll make it.

The fact that you've got other external partners out there supporting this, not just saying it's a good idea, rather going and doing it for them. You know, probably the number one reason why new Sisense customers are referred over to us by the Sisense sales team is that we're able to get things done fast. We're able to show value fast. I'll be careful with what I say here, but sometimes even faster than Sisense professional services, feel free to edit that out if you need.

KR: No, please continue to speak candidly, save space. 

ID: It's all about, you know, it's all about bringing value to the customer and it's all about lowering the total cost of ownership. I think the fact that we're able to bring these customers to seeing true value, it's not just deploying Sisense, it's, you know, deploying the whole data strategy.

And that's what we're here for. We're here to make sure that the customers are seeing value fast. That's our number one objective.

And then it's feeling comfortable with the product that we've developed for them. And then debriefing them and handing over the control and the ownership and the maintenance. And of course, we also continue providing these maintenance and support services or whatever type of dynamic, tailor-suited engagement the customers would want.

So bottom line is, you know, if it's tech debt, I think definitely that's a big fear of organizations, but showing them where they can be in two to six months, we're not talking, you know, sometimes it's, they think it's years ahead because that's the old world. But today, you know, it's actually literally two to six months and they're able to do that complete transition. If we're able to show the customers and prove it to them, they're in your pocket and they're forever in your debt.

KR: Yep, absolutely. And I think that's something that we can dictate from, think about the sales side, CS, and then even as you outlined from the partner side is where people think it might take one to two years to go through this transformation. Now we can align on that pace and they'll move as fast as we need to, as long as that quantified business value is there.

I'm going to take a little bit more of a macro perspective and approach here. And we talked about the tech debt and talked about the infrastructure that's in place and the services you provide. But as we know, there are some verticals that we absolutely crushed it in almost more so than, than others, right? We're questioning fleet management, logistics.

What verticals do you see as the biggest opportunity to increase the use and rate of adoption of Sisense? And what are some of the most viable industries that you see for our partnership in 2025?

ID: Great. So I definitely agree with you that, you know, if you're mentioning fleet management and logistics fulfillment, Sisense is great with that. And specifically, we've been seeing a lot of those projects coming, you know, our way from Sisense, specifically around our advanced map solutions.

Because, you know, if it's logistics fulfillment, shipments, et cetera, we've got, you know, safe to say dozens of existing customers which utilize our maps for that. Definitely healthcare, which is always big in data. And specifically, I think something that would, should be catching everybody's eye, definitely in the, you know, Israeli tech scene is cyber, of course.

Cybersecurity, you know, has been popping up like mushrooms after the AI reign, you know, over the past two years. The Israeli tech scene is just full of cyber security companies. And they're all providing SaaS applications to their customers.

Sisense should be definitely should be focusing on those organizations to provide that, you know, embedded analytics experience for their end customers. I think Sisense is, you know, spot on to what these customers need, given the fact also that Sisense is Israeli based. It should only strengthen that, should only strengthen that approach.

Yeah, so it's definitely cyber, healthcare. We've got, you know, tons of experience in media branding and much more, yeah. I couldn't agree more with cybersecurity, in particular, I think about a company like Wiz, and how fast they're growing.

And then the fact that they have 45% of the Fortune 500, and us being able to provide analytics to those end customers as we want to strive and continue to move up market, there's just a lot of opportunity and market share to go capture there. So I'd love that completely in line. 

KR: Let's pivot to something a little bit more personal. Personal question for you, though. You have the chance to see your favorite musician at any venue of your choice. Who are you listening to? And where are they performing? 

ID: I was excited to say that I'm back in my 90s grunge phase. And I've recently become obsessed with Mad Season, which I just haven't, I've never heard about. Basically, it's a Seattle grunge band, which is with Mike McCready from Pearl Jam and Layne Staley, which is from Alice in Chains. I've been listening to them nonstop over the past like three months, just completely obsessed.

And specifically, with Long Gone Day, it's just a super cool song. So definitely Mad Season. Fantastic.

KR: I'm not familiar with Mad Season, but I'll have to look them up. It sounds very interesting. You know, appreciate the time.

Before we officially wrap here, we've covered the gamut across the board, from data strategy to tech infrastructure, to the viability of different industries, cybersecurity. If you can have people leave today's conversation with one primary thing around QBeeQ, what would you want them to leave with? 

ID: I think apart from everything that we've talked about here, one of the main things that kind of takes us out and really differentiates us is that we've been heavily investing in customer care. We have, I think, not sure, probably we're probably the only partner out there with an actual customer success function.

We really provide our customers, we kind of encapsulate them with a surrounding suite of services, not just plugins and professional services and consulting, really give them, every customer gets a dedicated customer success manager. And we're really there to make sure that they succeed. The thing is that you can see us as another layer of support, another layer of success.

Customers that work with us, they're kind of planting their roots deeper, not just into us, but into the Sisense ecosystem. So that means that they're less likely to turn, more likely to succeed and to expand. And so it's important to say that we're here to support your customers.

We're also here to support everybody at Sisense. Don't hesitate to ping us if it's on Slack or email. We're really here to help. Anything that you think we can help out with, please do not hesitate to reach out. 

KR: Appreciate it. Thanks for the time and really love and respect all the work that you're doing over at QBeeQ.

And I know you said in the beginning, QBeeQ, QBQ, but we've landed on QBeeQ and I know that we're gearing up for an incredible 2025. So appreciate the time and looking forward to part two down the line.