The client background

This company is a chemical manufacturer that produces specialty chemicals for a variety of industries, including food processing, water treatment and agriculture. Founded in 1929, they have over 1,000 employees and operates production facilities throughout the United States.             

The business challenge

This company was having difficulty ensuring the accuracy, consistency and security of its data during their recent enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation. As data management within the organization was complex and spread across multiple systems and departments, it made accessing high-quality data to provide accurate insights and enable effective decision-making difficult. Additionally, strong data security and ownership structure was needed to protect sensitive business information from unauthorized access and misuse. Without the proper data governance plan in place, data inconsistencies, errors and redundancies could negatively impact the efficiency and effectiveness of their new ERP system.

Strategy and solution

Baker Tilly worked closely with the company to ensure the successful design and implementation of a data governance program. The program was designed to address the specific challenges faced during their recent ERP implementation, including data quality, security and ownership.

The program had several key components, including:

• Developing a comprehensive data governance framework that defined the roles, responsibilities, policies and procedures for managing data across their organization
• Establishing comprehensive information security policies, procedures and workflows for protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access and misuse
• Establishing clear ownership and accountability for data to ensure data was managed and used appropriately throughout their organization
• Providing training and education to the company’s employees on data governance best practices, data quality management, data security management and data ownership and stewardship