CASE STUDY - Gaining New Insights with Master Data Management
- By Linda Scott
- May 8, 2007
Commentary by Linda Scott, Vice President, First Data Corporation, and Michelle Compton IT Project Manager, Chesapeake Energy
Enterprise Data Management Works at First Data Corporation
First Data Corporation (FDC) is a worldwide provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions. As the result of merger and acquisition activity over many years, the company is composed of multiple businesses—each with its own data, data definitions, and business processes. In this fast-paced business, the intention was to go back after the fact and make data and processes consistent. However, what the company was a single master data management system that delivered “one version of the truth” and a single consistent set of data management processes—an enterprise master data management system.
The first phase in FDC’s enterprise data management initiative was to implement Hyperion Master Data Management to deliver a central repository for enterprisewide reporting hierarchies and master data, including a company-wide common chart of accounts and all associated attributes and properties. In tandem, FDC established a data governance structure and processes to create enterprisewide master data consistency and control.
FDC now has a consistent language and the ability to see and compare financial and operational results between business units “apples-to-apples.” With “one version of the truth,” employees no longer have discussions about data accuracy, and instead focus on data analysis and reporting. The central finance team gained consistent processes, consistent consolidations, and enterprisewide data transparency, while reducing the cost of reworking and reconciling data, reports, and key performance indicators (KPIs).
The entire enterprise is working more collaboratively on common systems and goals. FDC is proof that crossfunctional teams comprising business unit knowledge workers and IT technical staff can work together and deliver a data management system that works.
Chesapeake Energy Strikes it Rich with Hyperion Master Data Management and GIS Mapping
Chesapeake Energy relies on maps and spatial information to fuel success. Its systems and processes must be flexible to keep pace with change.
Chesapeake Energy uses a critical management tool, The Team Table, to identify employees that are involved at every level in a land lease or well. The table identifies points of contact for each geopolitical or operational area. The Team Table was originally created and maintained in a spreadsheet, which required constant, manual updates resulting from employee assignment changes, hierarchy changes, and adding new wells.
Today, business users record, track, and update a Hyperion Master Data Management application with personnel assignment changes, which links with a GIS mapping application to deliver spatial representation of teams and territories. This new approach takes information that historically was defined by a map reference—but not represented spatially—and delivers it in the form of a map.
This scalable, easy-to-use system provides accurate and up-to-date information for Chesapeake Energy’s 5,000 employees. Now, anyone in the enterprise can identify an area on a map and immediately retrieve the team associated with that area.
The company has seen tremendous value, both in immediate returns and in future opportunities:
- Faster access to data for decisions and analytical options
- Freedom to build teams according to where oil and gas reserves are, instead of by traditional political map boundaries
- Faster and more accurate hierarchy data
- Enormous time savings for data maintenance and reduced effort in role assignments
- Ability to look back historically to help assess changes in production
- Increased security and audit trails not typically available through a spreadsheet
Many benefits result from Chesapeake Energy being able to perform tasks they could not do before. During the past 11 years, staff size increased by 500 percent and the company has 40 times more wells. The previous manual system couldn’t keep pace with that tremendous growth. This innovative solution merged needed factual data with maps to lead the way for even more growth in the future.
This article originally appeared in the issue of .