Debbie Collins, a consultant with First San Francisco Partners, has more than 20 years of experience as a data modeler and data architect. We asked Debbie to share highlights from her background and professional experience and what it means to work in her specialty area.
Q&A With Debbie Collins
I continued my studies in this focus area and graduated from college with a business degree in Computer Information Systems and Accounting. I didn’t know at the time how much the accounting part of my degree would benefit me today in the business world — and personally, too — and I’m glad it was part of my educational focus.
Our consultant Debbie Collins, pictured here with her dog Latte, is based outside of Orlando, Florida, and works with FSFP’s clients across the US and in Canada.
How would you describe the work that you do for our FSFP clients?
I work as a data architect — and that can entail quite a few things! Sometimes, it’s data modeling work. Often, it’s helping our clients truly understand and get value from their data, by organizing it to maximize their competitive advantage.
I work with clients to create a blueprint of a data environment that helps the enterprise with both operations and analytics. For example, most clients have customer data in many disparate applications, and it’s difficult to recognize the same customer across all applications. A business user can’t easily see the customer’s journey, which includes all experiences that customers go through when interacting with the enterprise. I get involved to help with these types of challenges.
I’m connected to client projects that use data catalog tools from IBM, Informatica and Collibra. When I have spare time at FSFP, I’m helping to build out our team’s Collibra training repository, along with our Director of Innovation Malcolm Chisholm.
I play outdoor pickleball several days a week, which can be done throughout the year in my state of Florida. I also work as a hospice volunteer, typically playing a role as patient companion. This is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.
