Platforms > Looker

Looker Consulting Services

Alphabyte provides Looker consulting. Getting data into Looker is the easy part. Making it drive decisions takes well-structured LookML models, dashboards built around how your teams work and a reporting environment that stays accurate as your data changes. We help mid-market and enterprise organizations build exactly that.

Our Looker consultants handle the whole project, from data architecture and LookML to dashboards, training and ongoing optimization.

Success Stories

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What We Do

Looker consulting that turns your Google Cloud and warehouse data into governed dashboards your teams trust.

Looker is the business intelligence platform from Google Cloud. Its modelling layer, LookML, defines your metrics, dimensions and business logic once, so every dashboard and explore uses the same definitions. Looker Studio is a separate, lighter Google tool for building reports from Google services and other sources. Both work with BigQuery, Cloud SQL and other databases and warehouses.

We help organizations on Google Cloud and beyond design, build and tune Looker implementations. Our consultants write the LookML, connect your data sources, design dashboards for each audience and set up access and caching. We also offer Looker Studio consulting for lighter reporting needs. When your data lives in Google BigQuery, we design the warehouse underneath too, so the model and the data fit together.

We also build reporting in Tableau, Power BI and Qlik Sense, and many organizations use more than one.

01

Dashboard Design & Development

Custom Looker dashboards built on LookML, so every number uses one definition.

02

Looker Studio Implementation

Looker Studio reports that bring Google Cloud and external data into one place.

03

Data Visualization

Clear, interactive visuals for executive, operational and analyst audiences, on desktop or mobile.

04

Business Intelligence Reporting

Executive dashboards, operational reports and deep-dive explores for every level of the business.

05

LookML Modeling & Development

One governed LookML layer for your metrics, dimensions, relationships and business logic.

06

Custom Reporting & Integration

Looker connected to BigQuery, Cloud SQL, data warehouses and your external databases.

07

Training & Enablement

Hands-on training in dashboards, LookML basics and self-service analytics for your team.

08

Performance Optimization

Query tuning, LookML cleanup and caching for faster, more reliable dashboards.

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Our Approach

  • Over 1 to 2 weeks we review your reporting objectives, KPIs, user groups and existing data sources. We meet the people who will use Looker and agree on the questions it must answer. This sets clear business and technical requirements before any modelling or dashboard work begins, so the build stays focused.

  • We look at your current data sources, table structures and query patterns, including BigQuery or any other warehouse you already run. From that we plan the LookML model, the data connections and the caching approach that keep reporting fast and accurate. Gaps in the data are flagged early, while they are still easy to fix.

  • We design and prototype dashboards that balance clarity with analytical depth. Your users try them early and give structured feedback on layout, metrics and filters, and we refine the design before the full build begins. That way the finished dashboards match how each team actually works and reads its numbers.

  • Over 3 to 8 weeks we build the LookML models, explores and dashboards. We test business logic against your source systems, reconcile key figures and check query speed with real user scenarios. Work is reviewed with your team in short cycles, so feedback shapes the model while changes are still simple to make.

  • We deploy to your Looker environment with the right access controls, groups and permissions, so each person sees only the data they should. Your users then test the dashboards against real scenarios and confirm the reporting meets business requirements. Nothing goes live until the people who rely on it agree the numbers are right.

  • We run hands-on training on dashboard use, LookML basics and self-service analytics, and hand over documentation of the model, data connections and access setup. Your team can then manage, extend and build on the Looker environment on its own, and call on us for optimization as the environment grows.

Reporting Success Stories

E-Commerce

Annmarie Skin Care’s challenge is common and is experienced by e-commerce shops across the spectrum: while relying on 3rd party applications provides quick access to the functionality necessary to run its shop, it creates scattered environments of data that make it difficult to gather meaningful insights.

E-CommerceRead More

Retail Reporting & Analytics

The development of a tailored Power BI dashboard for retail businesses marks a transformative step in how these companies visualize and analyze their sales data across various channels.

Retail Reporting & AnalyticsRead More

Wholesale Distribution

What AWD needed was 21st century answers to a complex 21st century question. Quarterly P&L reports simply did not make the cut. It left many questions unanswered – what is the net profit on each item or branch? Who are our top sales execs? Who are our top customers and how much profit are we generating from them?...

Wholesale DistributionRead More

Your Looker Consulting Team

Looker projects work best when the same team understands the data engineering and the reporting. Alphabyte is a data and AI consultancy, founded in 2015, and has served 100+ organizations across Canada and the United States. Our consultants combine BI and data engineering skills, so your LookML model and your warehouse are designed together. We have built production Looker environments and LookML models that support enterprise-wide reporting and self-service analytics.

We build Looker environments that are accurate, fast and easy for your team to extend. If you are still weighing your options, our Tableau vs Looker comparison sets out the main differences between the two tools.

We work with mid-market and enterprise organizations across Canada and the United States. Related services: data analytics & BI consulting, dashboard development and data warehousing services.

Get Started
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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Looker is used to build dashboards, reports and self-service analysis on top of a database or data warehouse. Its LookML layer defines metrics and business logic in one place, so a KPI such as revenue or margin is calculated the same way in every dashboard. Teams use it for executive reporting, operational dashboards and letting analysts explore data without writing SQL.

  • A Looker consultant designs and builds your Looker environment. That covers the LookML model, data connections, explores, dashboards, access controls and caching. At Alphabyte our consultants also review the data underneath, reconcile key figures against your source systems and train your team, so the reporting stays accurate and your people can extend it after the project ends.

  • Most organizations bring in help when they are setting up Looker for the first time, when dashboards are slow, or when the LookML model has grown messy and different explores give different answers. Help is also useful when a team on Google Cloud wants to move off spreadsheets. A clean model set up early is far easier than untangling one later.

  • Cost depends on the number of data sources, how clean the data is, how complex the business logic is and how many dashboards and audiences you need. Looker licence costs are billed separately by Google. We start with a short discovery, then scope a focused first release with you, so you can decide on the next phase with real information.

  • Looker is an enterprise BI platform with a governed modelling layer, LookML, that keeps metrics consistent across every dashboard. Looker Studio is a lighter reporting tool for quick dashboards from Google services and other sources, with less central control over definitions. Many organizations use Looker Studio for simple reports and Looker where consistency matters. We help you decide which fits each need.

  • Both are capable BI tools. Looker suits organizations that want one governed model for metrics and often run their data on Google Cloud. Tableau is popular with analyst teams that value flexible, visual exploration. We work with both and can help you choose.

  • LookML is the modelling language Looker uses to describe your data. It defines tables, joins, dimensions, measures and business rules in code, so every dashboard and explore draws on the same definitions. Because it is code, changes can be reviewed and tracked. A well-structured LookML model is the main reason Looker reporting stays consistent as more teams use it.

  • Discovery usually takes 1 to 2 weeks. Building the LookML model and first dashboards usually takes 3 to 8 weeks after that, depending on the number of sources, data quality and how complex the business logic is. Larger programs are delivered in phases, with each release adding explores and dashboards on the same governed model.

  • No. Looker works with many SQL databases and cloud data warehouses, including BigQuery, Cloud SQL and others. BigQuery is a common pairing for organizations on Google Cloud, and we can design that warehouse with you. If your data sits elsewhere, we connect Looker to it directly and recommend changes to the data underneath only where they make reporting faster or more reliable.

  • A single in-house hire can work well for steady dashboard and LookML changes once the model is in good shape. A consulting team brings data engineering, modelling, dashboard design and training together, which helps when you are setting up Looker, fixing a messy model or connecting several sources. Some clients use us to build the foundation, then hand ongoing work to an internal hire.

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