How Sunesis Consulting Turned Weeks of Research Into Actionable Insight

Altrata helped a boutique Canadian compliance firm streamline its business development research, replacing weeks of manual work with reliable relationship data and industry insights in one place

Client’s goals

Sunesis Consulting is a boutique governance, risk, and compliance firm based in Calgary, Canada, that has grown primarily through referrals and relationships over two decades. That relationship-first approach shapes how the firm thinks about business development: the strongest opportunities tend to come through existing relationships and referrals. As Sunesis looked to grow, it needed a faster and more reliable way to research companies and understand where its existing network could open doors, without pulling a small team away from client work.

The Altrata difference

Sunesis first tried to map connections manually, an approach that proved slow and incomplete. Jimimah Burns, Manager, Compliance & Advisory, spent roughly two weeks piecing together a single output, and even then lacked a reliable way to see how closely the firm was connected to a given company. After researching more efficient options, she brought in Altrata’s RelSci to replace that manual process. With relationship data in one place, research that once meant piecing information together became a single search. The team can enter a target and immediately see the degree of connection, giving Sunesis a clear, data-backed starting point for new opportunities and a better read on the landscape around it.

Impact

Where manual research once took weeks, Sunesis now gets connection insights instantly, giving time back to a lean team balancing client deadlines. The tool has also proven useful beyond prospecting. When Sunesis hosted its first industry forum, the team used it to identify firms with relevant subject-matter expertise to invite as speakers, putting the same research capability to work on event planning. The outcome is a streamlined process that stays true to the firm’s relationship-first roots, now backed by reliable data and far less manual effort.

Client: Sunesis Consulting Inc.

Region: Canada

Altrata products: Altrata, RelSci, BoardEx