Introduction
KDB is a proudly South African software company that was established in 2006.
Our core purpose is to help you streamline your data capturing and reporting workflows.
We achieve this by consolidating all of your data into a single accessible repository, and we have devoted the last 19 years to developing and refining a data management platform that accomplishes this in the most optimal way.
Platform overview
The KDB data management platform is securely accessible from any device with a web browser and an internet connection - including desktop computers, laptops, and touch-screen tablets.
Platform features include:
- Custom-built data-capturing interfaces (tailored to your spreadsheets and forms)
- The ability to import spreadsheets of data (allowing you to capture data in batches)
- Real-time formatting and input validation (to ensure perfect quality data is captured)
- Fast-loading data tables (to rapidly search, sort, and export large volumes of data)
- Direct integration with BI and analytics tools (such as Power BI, Tableau, and others)
- The ability to generate custom PDF reports (featuring your company logo / letterhead)
- Configurable user access privileges (catering for hierarchical teams and roles)
- The ability to digitally sign records (for approval / rejection workflows)
- Built-in compliance with regulatory requirements (POPIA and GDPR)
- A detailed audit trail of all user activity (tracking who did what and when)
- The ability to upload files into an organised catalogue (for rapid search and retrieval)
- Daily snapshot backups of data (with the last 30 days of backups on hot standby)
- No vendor lock-in (all captured data can be exported instantly and securely for free)
Our service includes expert support, with rapid response times across all African and European time zones.
Common use cases
The KDB platform is designed to streamline workflows that are overly reliant on spreadsheets.
Spreadsheets are great when you're figuring things out since they're quick to build and have flexible layouts. But they are sub-optimal at scale, because as teams grow and the volume of data expands, the quality and consistency of spreadsheet data tends to plummet. This in turn creates additional overhead when it comes to cleaning and collating spreadsheet data for reporting purposes.
Using spreadsheets also raises security concerns, given that they often contain sensitive data, and yet they are frequently copied and emailed carelessly. This exposes you to compliance risk, most notably as a result of the POPI Act, which can be particularly detrimental in the event that a laptop is stolen or lost.
We eliminate these issues by replacing your spreadsheets with KDB - our secure and highly customisable data management platform. KDB can be tailored to your existing spreadsheets and forms - which drastically lowers the learning curve - and its real-time input validation ensures perfect quality data is captured at the point of entry, sparing you the administrative burden of having to clean data later down the line.
KDB is also backed by a central SQL database that can be easily integrated with your favourite reporting and analytics software (such as Power BI and Tableau), allowing you to analyse and extract insights from your latest live data without any delay.
If your organisation is heavily reliant on spreadsheets then contact us to arrange a demo. We will gladly prepare a bespoke instance of KDB for you based on your existing spreadsheets - and at no up-front cost. That way you can get a clear idea of how our system adds value without you having to take on any risk.
Data literacy handbook
The KDB Data Literacy Handbook is a regularly updated publication that serves as a compendium of data terminology and concepts.
It is designed to be used as a foundational guide by organisations who are focused on fostering a data-driven culture.
Topics include:
- History and evolution of data systems
- An in-depth review of the different types of data analytics (including big data analytics)
- A primer on data governance (in terms of policies, procedures, roles, and metrics)
- A practical framework for designing and executing a data strategy
- A glossary of data engineering jargon (demystifying buzzwords to facilitate communication)
The handbook is freely available to customers of KDB and delegates of our workshops.
Please contact us to request a copy.
Data maturity scorecard
The KDB Data Maturity Scorecard is a free online assessment that helps you measure your organisation's overall data effectiveness.
It identifies strengths and weaknesses across your data operations - so that you know what to prioritise first - and includes personalised recommendations which you can action today.
Data maturity is assessed from 5 different perspectives, namely:
- Personnel
- Data Literacy
- Data Availability
- Data Strategy
- Data Governance
The assessment comprises 25 Yes / No questions, takes approximately 5 minutes to complete, and is free. The result is a print-friendly PDF that contains your scorecard along with personalised recommendations.
If you have any questions about the scorecard please contact us.
Workshop: Data strategy in practice
Over the past 19 years, we have helped hundreds of organisations from a wide variety of industries, including, but not limited to, Financial Services, Healthcare, Consulting, and Manufacturing.
This broad experience has in turn granted us unique insights into the different ways in which data can add value across multiple business processes and sector-specific use cases.
We have distilled this knowledge into a practical half-day workshop that is geared for organisations seeking to invest in their data as a strategic asset.
It is a non-technical workshop intended for senior leaders from all backgrounds, as well as technical staff looking to transition into a leadership role.
In this workshop we cover:
- Introductory data literacy
- What data strategy is (and what it is not)
- A practical framework for designing and executing a data strategy
- Real-world data strategy examples
Duration: 1 x Half-day workshop (4 hours), preceded by a needs analysis meeting (1 hour)
Venue: Online (maximum 20 delegates)
Fee: R26,640 excl. VAT
For more information and to book a workshop please contact us.
Workshop: Data engineering at scale
Over the past 19 years, we have helped hundreds of organisations to extract and consolidate all of their data into a centralised data management platform for streamlined access.
This deep experience has in turn afforded us unique insights into what it takes to build a high performance data engineering team, as well as how to run data engineering operations at scale.
We have distilled this knowledge into a practical full-day workshop that is geared for organisations wanting to upskill internal data engineering teams.
It is a technical workshop intended for junior/graduate Data Engineers, as well as Database Administrators looking to transition into a Data Engineering role.
In this workshop we cover:
- Introductory data literacy
- 5 steps to building a solid data foundation
- The evolution of data pipeline technologies
- Data pipeline monitoring and maintenance
- Data architecture design for ETL workflows
- A practical approach to data governance
- High performance data engineering teams
- The future of data engineering at scale
Duration: 1 x Full-day workshop (8 hours), preceded by a needs analysis meeting (1 hour)
Venue: Hosted in-person at our offices in Cape Town and Sandton (maximum 10 delegates)
Fee: R79,920 excl. VAT
For more information and to book a workshop please contact us.
History
KDB was started out of a student dorm room at De Villiers House in the winter of 2006.
Cloud Computing was still in its infancy back then, and most businesses were spending significant sums on enterprise software packages - not to mention the hardware infrastructure required to run these systems.
It was during this time that we carved out our niche as early Cloud pioneers, by giving our customers access to tailor-made data capturing systems over the internet in exchange for an affordable monthly fee.
19 years later, we are leaders in the field of data management solutions, and we continue to rely exclusively on word-of-mouth referrals to steadily grow our business.
Careers
Intern Data Engineer
If you are a student that is currently reading towards a degree in Computer Science and/or Mathematics, and you are interested in a part-time Data Engineering internship at KDB, please contact us for more details on how the internship is structured and on how to apply.
Data Engineer
This position is geared for recent graduates in Computer Science and/or Mathematics.
As a Data Engineer at KDB, your primary responsibility will be to design, develop, and take ownership of customer databases and automated data pipelines. This will entail fostering relationships with customers, understanding their data needs, and building optimal data structures that best suit their operations.
Secondary responsibilities will include the monitoring of our end-to-end networking infrastructure and database server cluster to ensure high availability and maximum throughput.
On-the-job learning is prioritised, but applicants with experience in the following are preferable:
- PostgreSQL / MySQL internals (including configuring and maintaining replication)
- Bash scripting, cron jobs, and general Linux server maintenance (Debian / Ubuntu)
- Demonstrable programming and problem solving experience in C++ / Python / PHP
Remuneration: R240k-R360k per annum*
* Remuneration is negotiable based on experience and academic record.
Senior Data Engineer
Due to the vast amounts of customer data that we handle, trust is a top priority for us. In light of this we are very careful about who we hire, and thus prefer to appoint senior candidates and contractors directly through our own personal networks. That said, if you have 10+ years of experience as a Data Engineer, and are looking for a change of scenery, please contact us. Remuneration is negotiable based on experience.
Contact us
61 Katherine Street
Sandton
2196
Cape Town
9 Portswood Road
V&A Waterfront
8002