Andy Flower began Right Triangle Consulting (3R) in 2007 on his belief that data warehousing and management, still in relative infancy, could be accomplished differently and more efficiently than the legacy practices of big-name, management consultant firms.
Contrarily, he believed that the original data warehousing intentions of pulling data together in a meaningful way had gone so astray due to excessive and unnecessary processing that the resulting data was less useful, not more. Since that time — heading into the teeth of the 2008 – 2009 financial crisis — he and his team have operated under the premise of “doing right” by their clients, even if the client doesn’t realize it.
In practice, that has meant operating opposite of established providers. Rather than gathering and configuring ALL data through ALL layers’ processing for client uses that may never materialize (and slowing other operations along the way), the 3R way is to first expose the data, giving the client a path so that requirements can be built less expensively, potentially saving thousands of hours or millions of dollars. Further, 3R believes that data should be processed and moved only when necessary to improve its performance or complexity, thereby reducing needless moving costs.
Seeking efficiency and productivity have been constants for Andy. He was high school All-America as a diver in his native Michigan and came to the University of Kansas on a five-year, dive team scholarship, where 40-hour “work weeks” (in addition to school) imparted a strong sense of discipline. Graduating with bachelor’s degrees in computer science and math, he then began, and later completed, his master’s degree in computer science and making the most of his final scholarship-paid semester.
After an initial, early-career role managing information systems for an engineering firm, including 2 ½ years working in the United Kingdom, he sought and fulfilled revenue-contributing roles as a data warehousing consultant for esteemed organizations including Pfizer, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Citibank, and Federal Reserve of Kansas City.
Today, he and his team routinely serve clients in the financial, healthcare and insurance sectors. Success has resulted from operating as a client advocate and hiring the right talent, namely, consultants equipped with strong foundational concepts and analytical, problem-solving approaches, but who can adopt the 3R philosophy — and perhaps differently than they’d been taught.
Regardless of client or project, the focus is on getting clients their data as quickly as possible, at its full value, and with a “semantic intelligence” so that it can be consumed easily and without unnecessary processing. Clients’ projects often complete under budget because best, easy, and fast solutions are sought.
Andy has reconnected with his KU roots in recent years. He’s on the advisory board of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science school and is a board member of the K-Club, whose mission is to help preserve the history and traditions of Kansas Athletics and to support current student-athletes. When not prohibited by the pandemic, Andy and his family enjoy domestic and international travel, returning regularly to his wife’s native England for family visits and side trips to other European destinations.