Empark’s eco-conscious consumer base rapidly outpaced the capacity of its data and analytic infrastructure. By integrating Etleap into a modernized data stack, Iberia’s leading mobility provider is self-serving data insights to drive profit growth and environmental impact.
By partnering with Etleap to build a more cohesive data strategy, Empark is:
Cohesive Data, Intelligent Parking
As drivers increasingly seek sustainable mobility options, parking infrastructure emerges as a focal point for urban innovation. However, delivering frictionless parking solutions requires data-infused mobility services. In Spain and Portugal, Empark has embraced this challenge head-on.
“Our main business has traditionally been managing car parks and street-regulated parking,” explains Andrea Delgado, Senior Data Engineer at Empark. “And in the last couple of years, we've intensified our focus on electric charging stations within our car parks, as well as building an integrated app.”
Empark manages 330+ thousand parking spaces and reaches 4+ million digital users. But as consumer expectations for app-based services grew, the company struggled to integrate diverse data sources—from traditional car park systems to modern EV infrastructure—into dynamic, real-time product offerings.
“We lacked a cohesive data strategy,” says Delgado. “The business was asking more and more questions, and our existing infrastructure struggled to provide the precise answers needed.”
As Delgado and the infrastructure team set out to modernize Empark’s fragmented data landscape, they needed a robust ETL strategy to streamline processes and reduce complexity.
“Our infrastructure integrated data from various sources across our business—car parks, control systems, EV charging stations, and entry and exit barriers. Records arrived from several channels in different formats and from distinct databases. To derive business insights, we had to unify disparate data sources into a coherent data mart.”
Andrea Delgado, Senior Data Engineer at Empark
Data Needs a Place to Park—and Transform
Empark relied on different versions of SQL, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and non-relational databases to collect data from its parking infrastructure. It also integrated data from a third-party team using Redshift. In developing insight-rich service offerings, the data team faced two critical hurdles: high latency, and the absence of an easy-to-use model deployment tool.
“Our data department isn’t highly technical, and they primarily rely on SQL,” Delgado explains. “But deploying models with just SQL, especially within a complex infrastructure, hindered our product goals.”
In seeking an ETL partner, the team wanted a streamlined approach to data management that could reduce processing time compared to traditional methods.
“In other systems like Pentaho, Hadoop, or Python-based custom code, the ETL process often involves complex configurations and considerable delays,” explains Delgado. “This lag in processing makes it difficult to efficiently monitor critical metrics, such as car park occupancy, which is essential for offering real-time services.”
What first drew Delgado to Etleap was its accelerated approach to Change Data Capture (CDC).
“While CDC isn’t unique to Etleap, its implementation is far easier and more efficient,” says Delgado. “Normally, configuring CDC and reading transaction logs is painful, but Etleap makes it effortless.”
Telpark has 80+ data models in Etleap designed using straightforward SQL coding. The Data and Reporting team queries data processed through these models to extract insights, conduct analysis, detect anomalies, and most importantly, create unified dashboards.
“Etleap allows us to extract data from all our different sources—whether it's SQL Server, MySQL, or even Redshift—without needing to write custom code for each one. We can set up pipelines that send data directly to its destination, or else an interim database for further processing.”
Andrea Delgado, Senior Data Engineer at Empark
ROBUST ETLEAP PIPELINES DELIVER KEY BUSINESS WINS FOR EMPARK
Behavioral Data Fuels Agile Services
Empark’s raw data, such as timestamps from car park control systems, is simple but unrefined. These systems collect limited data—like when a customer’s license plate is registered upon entry and exit—but lack enough context to generate meaningful insights.
“When a customer enters a car park, the system records the time they take a ticket at the entrance barrier; when they leave, another timestamp is generated,” explains Delgado. “But these two records are separate, so we needed a way to connect them and tell the full story—how long the customer stayed, whether they found a parking spot, and if they used any of our services.”
Empark uses Etleap’s SQL modeling tool to link these fragmented records, deriving a comprehensive view of customer behavior. This data allows analysts to identify patterns over time and drive better decision-making.
“While one visit might seem insignificant, analyzing hundreds of thousands of visits over time helps us detect behavioral patterns and improve our services,” says Delgado.
Building an Eco-conscious Mobility App
Empark needed to build an integrated mobile app to introduce innovative services, like express entry based on license plate recognition, automatic payment, and parking availability alerts. Offering these services at scale requires high-octane data processing that only robust ETL can facilitate.
“Our app lets users skip traditional tickets, offering express entry by recognizing their license plate and charging them automatically when they leave,” Delgado explained. “Etleap’s rapid, low-latency data processing allows us to load operational data into the data warehouse quickly, making it seamlessly accessible to our Data team for timely analysis and insights. This enables us to continually refine user experiences like express entry and automatic payments.”
The app also gives Empark a new channel to gather valuable customer data, so the company can tailor its services to meet customer needs by analyzing app usage patterns and transactions. Empark now offers hybrid products, such as pre-booking parking spaces or bulk passes allowing multiple visits at a discounted rate.
“Empark became famous by offering a cheaper solution for paying for on-street parking through the app. Such data-driven products, enabled by Etleap pipelines, have helped us gain 5 million new clients.”
Andrea Delgado, Senior Data Engineer at Empark
Self-Service Tools Keep Data Teams Lean
Even as its parking infrastructure expanded and technical requirements became more complex, Etleap’s user-friendly platform has delivered considerable labor and cost savings by keeping Empark’s technical staff lean.
“Despite managing over 1 million rows of data daily across multiple systems, our data team now requires only one dedicated ETL manager,” says Delgado.
Etleap's self-service diagnostic tools further enhance operational efficiency. Empark's team can quickly identify and resolve problems with minimal disruption if pipelines stall or high-latency issues arise.
“Even if your pipeline or model stalls, which thankfully is rare, you still have some data in the data warehouse, so you always have something to work with,” Delgado explains. “Etleap’s ease of configuration allows us to recover quickly, even if models have to be rebuilt.”
“With a classic ETL, we were never less than five people. With Etleap, it’s just me.”
Andrea Delgado, Senior Data Engineer at Empark
Sustainable Mobility Propelled by Robust Data Pipelines
Etleap’s technical support and platform flexibility have empowered Empark to scale its operations efficiently, turning data into a strategic asset for future growth.
“It’s a tool of interest for everybody, regardless of work experience and skill level,” Delgado says.
As urban mobility evolves, Empark is poised to lead the way with sustainable, data-driven solutions—powered by Etleap’s low-latency data processing and broad integration capabilities.
“As Empark explores new business lines like smart city integrations, the role of Etleap will become even more critical as we employ AI to anticipate mobility needs and maintain our leadership position in the sector,” concludes Delgado.
“When high-traffic events like concerts or sporting games cause data spikes, a low-latency data warehouse helps us minimize the time between when data is generated and when it’s available for decision-making.”
Andrea Delgado, Senior Data Engineer at Empark
If Empark's story resonates, you can experience firsthand how Etleap's innovative technology and customer-centric approach can transform your data pipeline operations. Don't just take our word for it - request a demo today and explore how Etleap can meet your unique data needs. Etleap is free to trial for up to 4 weeks.
About Empark:
Empark is the leading mobility provider in Spain and Portugal, delivering comprehensive and specialized solutions to enhance urban mobility. With over 50 years of experience and operations in more than 150 cities, Empark is committed to making urban transportation faster, easier, and more sustainable.
About Etleap:
Etleap is built from the ground up on AWS to provide robust pipelines out of the box whether you're integrating a few databases or hundreds of TBs of log data.