Our Story

How it all started

Already a Tableau advocate, Nick loved its point-and-click function allowing non-experts to visualise data easily for the first time. The ability to pivot data into all sorts of different perspectives using its viz-SQL tool meant the user was no longer reliant on multiple ports to provide different views. He describes this software for data analysis as a game-changer. 

Partnering with Tableau proved to be the catalyst that opened the market for what became the data stack: complimentary software for data analysis that provides insights companies never dreamed possible.

Tableau had a gap around data ingestion that Alteryx neatly filled and Snowflake delivered yet another missing piece in the data jigsaw. The affordable cloud data warehouse had eluded Nick when he first tried to build one for a client. When he came across Snowflake at an expo in the US, it was like discovering the internet all over again.

FIRN Analytics

In April 2017, FIRN was born and became the first Snowflake partner in APAC. Snowflake joined Tableau and Alteryx in an elite stable of best-of-breed data software. The word was out, FIRN seemed to have the inside track, large corporations started to notice. 

Before long, his network introduced Nick to DataRobot; easy data-modelling for non-techs. Nick saw its potential – software that could do in minutes what he learned to do manually at university. 

In 2017 Nick also met Grant, who became a foundation customer. A year later Grant, who has a background in AI, Data Science, Analytics, and Business Intelligence, joined the company and the FIRN family began to grow.

Software partners, Fivetran, Matillion, Collibra, ThoughtSpot, and dbt joined the FIRN data stack in quick succession, making it quite comprehensive.  FIRN is now one of the fastest-growing tech companies in NZ, featured in the Deloitte Fast-50 Index in 2021.

A holistic approach

Alongside software, FIRN has always offered complimentary support services to smooth the customer journey.  Embedded hands-on consultancy has taken on new importance with the post-pandemic skills shortage. FIRN’s team of expert consultants can provide support for specific projects, a quick start in building visualisations, standing up data warehouses, creating predictive models or solidifying clients’ strategies. 

Our Purpose 

FIRN identify, evaluate, and validate best-of-breed data technologies from global markets before introducing them to New Zealand. The platforms and services we select go beyond traditional solutions, empowering our clients to lead their industries rather than follow.

By turning complex data into clear, actionable insights, we help organisations make smarter decisions, move faster, and unlock sustainable business value, while ensuring data is secure, governed, and responsibly managed.

With over eight years of experience, spanning data analytics, business intelligence, and data warehousing, FIRN is uniquely positioned to help Kiwi organisations accelerate their success through modern, trusted data solutions.

FIRN Mission 

FIRN’s mission is to help New Zealand organisations unlock the full value of their data by designing and delivering modern, secure, and governed data platforms that turn complexity into clear, actionable insight.

Thanks to FIRN in-depth knowledge of data warehousing, analytics, visualisation and AI, and our partnerships with leading data technology providers such as Tableau, Snowflake, dbt, Fivetran, Coalesce, Alteryx and DataRobot, FIRN is able to offer expert consultancy, training and support. This helps our clients to reduce risk, accelerate decision-making and achieve sustainable business outcomes.

FIRN Vision 

To be New Zealand’s most trusted data and analytics partner, empowering organisations to lead their industries through confident, data-driven decisions — responsibly, securely, and at scale.

At FIRN, we help organisations to make confident decisions based on data through modern, secure and governed analytics platforms.