Background:
Red Cross Lifeblood is a division of the Australian Red Cross, dedicated to providing life-giving blood, plasma, and biological products to those in need. With a mission rooted in saving lives, Lifeblood plays a critical role in the healthcare system by ensuring a safe, secure, and reliable supply of blood and related services across the country.
The Challenge:
Lifeblood needed to modernize its data infrastructure to support real-time visibility into blood donations and demand. Their existing systems were not optimised for low-latency processing, limiting their ability to respond quickly to shifting supply and demand dynamics. The need for a scalable, observable, and repeatable data pipeline was urgent.
Our Approach:
Lifeblood and Exco Partners conducted a comprehensive assessment of the existing data architecture, identifying key latency bottlenecks that hindered timely insights. To address these challenges, the team designed and implemented a real-time data ingestion and transformation framework using Delta Live Tables on Databricks.
This solution was underpinned by a robust testing and observability layer, ensuring high data quality and continuous pipeline health monitoring. The architecture was built to be modular and reusable, enabling scalability for future reporting and analytics needs.
The Solution:
Exco Partners delivered a high-performance “speed layer” that powers Lifeblood’s critical dashboard - Bloodalytics. This system:
- Ingests and processes donation and demand data in near real-time.
- Updates dimensional models to support operational and strategic reporting.
- Provides transparency into data SLAs and pipeline performance.
- Enables faster, more informed decision-making to make sure the blood gets to where it needs to go on time.
"It’s been quite humbling to see the team at Exco Partners come together to support Lifeblood with more than our Databricks expertise. Ever since we started at Lifeblood the team have been regular visitors to the donation centre across the road, donating blood and plasma and when you receive a text to let you know your blood is on its way to solve a life – it’s great to know we are helping in every way we can". Practice Director Data & AI, Michael Lowe
The Results:
- Real-Time Insights, Real-World Impact: Bloodalytics now delivers near real-time visibility into blood and plasma supply and demand, enabling Lifeblood to respond to needs as they arise - not after the fact.
- Faster Decisions, Better Outcomes: With improved responsiveness, Lifeblood can rapidly allocate resources to where they’re needed most, reducing shortages and improving patient care.
- Operational Excellence: Automation and improved data reliability have significantly reduced manual effort, freeing up teams to focus on mission-critical tasks.
- Built to Scale: The new architecture isn’t just a solution for today - it’s a foundation for tomorrow’s real-time analytics, ready to support evolving needs.
- Saving Lives, Every Day: By empowering faster, data-driven decisions, Bloodalytics directly supports Lifeblood’s mission - ensuring every donation counts and every life-saving opportunity is seized.