Data Environment Modernization Strategy Enables Association To Stay Ahead Of The Competition In Delivering Industry Insights
Overview
For a large non-profit association serving the food and beverage industry, data processing is at the foundational core of the value they bring to the customers. The association prioritizes its ability to offer exceptional data insights and reports as a result of that data processing.
To keep pace with customer expectations and enable future capabilities, the client is embarking on a data platform modernization. This new platform will focus on flexible data ingestion, expediting and automating data verification and validation, reducing report development timeframes for customers, and bringing enhanced business intelligence and data analytics capabilities to the association.
Our Approach
To begin this enterprise-wide transformation initiative, the client first needed to select the right technology for its new data platform, as well as incorporate that selection into its overall enterprise architecture. They chose RiverNorth in a competitive RFP process to complete Phase One of the project. Phase One included a current state assessment, along withproviding planning services related to their goal of modernizing its current data environment to a cloud-based, scalable, and flexible solution in order to create more nimble and accurate enterprise-level data analytics and reporting capabilities.
RiverNorth efficiently captured the client’s current state data environment and systems, including data dictionary, process flows, data paths, and data transformation documentation. We then developed and designed a Future State Conceptual and Logical Data Model as well as detailed functional requirements. We helped the client stand up a Data Governance Council and advised on data governance policies and standards as well as process automation candidates and strategy.
Finally, we developed technical requirements and vendor selection criteria that culminated in RiverNorth running a comprehensive vendor RFQ process and providing selection recommendation. Phase Two of this project includes RiverNorth acting as the proxy product owner on behalf of the client to accomplish the full implementation of the selected technology. Through examination, trend review, and statistical analysis of data from multiple disparate sources, we’re creating robust reports for the end users.
Results
RiverNorth is supporting the full implementation of SAS Viya. RiverNorth acts as the data reporting, analytical developers, and business architects on behalf of the client to translate the association’s mission critical needs into functional and technical requirements for development.
Our assessment resulted in an actionable architecture and comprehensive documentation of the client’s current and desired state such that any future developers could immediately begin implementation of the chosen data platform.
Current State: Documented 800+ data elements with sources that vary across 21 external jurisdictions, 350+ data transforms to process data from ingestion to reporting, 50+ data verification/validation checks, and 11 highly nuanced Business Processes.
Future State: Defined 50+ functional capabilities and 300+ technical requirements; proposed automation methods for 40+ manual/semi-automated processes; developed a new consolidated data model; and implemented a Data Governance framework.
Technology Vendor Analysis: Performed an Analysis of Alternatives in Master Data Management; assessed 19 different cloud technology vendors in the End-to-End Solution, Data Platform, Data Processing, and Data Quality/Preparation space; authored and facilitated a Request for Quote (RFQ) solicitation process, analyzing and assessing responses from 7 bidders.