Case study: information management solution for Irish public sector department |
Abstract
Information management solution for Irish public sector department.
Challenge
Our client faced increasing difficulty in measuring and monitoring its key business functions.
Data was always recognised as a core asset of the department but a number of issues involving information and data management were hampering the department's progress.
Some of these issues included:
- Significant amounts of data, but very little information
- Poor data quality – conflicting interpretations of data, missing data, lack of trust in data
- Inefficient collection of information, generating unnecessary overhead for both policy and operations
- Duplication and overlap of information being shared
- Manual process for reporting
- Lack of governance
Approach
Deloitte was engaged to build and implement a pilot model for information sharing across the organisation.
A key objective of this pilot was to develop a reusable model for information sharing that would drive efficiencies but also deliver better value from the information available.
The rationale behind the model being re-useable was to allow the organisation (which was constrained by a lack of available resources) to easily roll out the solution across the entire organisation.
Solution
Some of the key elements of the solution delivered by Deloitte included:
- A common taxonomy and business data definitions for data co-ordinators across the sector
- A practical governance model that extended across the department and local authority organisational structures
- Setup of a standardised data collection mechanism using SQL server integration services
- A data warehouse was created using SQL Server 2005
- Once this data warehouse was in place, it was possible for the business unit to perform both structured and ad hoc reporting using SQL server reporting services
- A prioritised set of recommendations and roadmap – aligned with longer term strategic vision
The solution was key in improving the client's reporting capabilities.
The department users were empowered to report and analyse the structured information without being reliant upon the IT unit.
Overall, the quality of the data improved dramatically, which has led to greater control and governance for the department over its information assets.
