Client Background:
Our client, a prominent water supply and treatment utility company in the UK, boasts over 2,500 employees, a customer base of 5 million and impressive annual revenue of £1 billion. Servicing one of the largest counties, their operations faced challenges stemming from a complex data environment, hindering efficient operations and decision-making.
Challenges:
- Difficulties in accessing and sharing data
- Fragmented and duplicated databases
- Uncertain data quality
- Lack of control over data assets, compromising trust and assurance in data
Client’s Objectives:
The client approached Oakland for assistance in addressing these challenges and achieving the following goals:
- Establish confidence and trust in data through right-sized data governance and data quality frameworks.
- Enhance business operations and asset efficiency by ensuring accessibility, usability, and quality of insights derived from data.
- Establish a data-driven culture and an insight-led workforce through data governance training and support.
Our Approach:
To tackle these challenges, we initiated the process by establishing data ownership and accountability. This approach enabled us to streamline data access and sharing, eliminate fragmentation and duplication, and set standards for data quality across all domains. The result was not only an increase in trust in the data but also measures to assure its accuracy, reliability, and security.
Tangible Outputs:
Our engagement yielded tangible outputs, showcasing the transformational impact of our work:
- Data Governance Framework: Tailored to the organization’s model, outlining a structured approach to data governance.
- Data Quality Framework: Detailing proactive and reactive processes to implement data quality across various data domains.
- Data Governance E-learning Training: Provided comprehensive understanding of data governance, its key components, and benefits for all employees.
- Identification of Key Stakeholders: Identified Data Owners, Stewards, and other key stakeholders for crucial data domains.
- Capacity Building Training: Created Data Ownership and Data Stewardship training to enhance capacity and improve data literacy necessary for responsibilities.
- Data Governance Operating Model: Established a comprehensive operating model for effective data governance.
- Results:
- Data governance has evolved from a “nice-to-have” capability to a critical operating capability. A thriving Data Governance community with committed Data Owners and Stewards has streamlined accountability and responsibility for data. The client now operates with increased confidence and trust in their data, paving the way for more efficient operations and informed decision-making.
In conclusion, our collaboration with the major UK Utility stands as a testament to the transformative power of effective data governance in enhancing organisational efficiency and building a data-centric culture.
If you want to discuss any elements of this case study or find out how Oakland could help you, please contact us to arrange a call.