Celcom Axiata, the oldest mobile telecommunications operator in Malaysia, has embraced digital transformation in a proactive move to bolster data privacy and compliance. Their desire to stay ahead of the compliance curve is motivated by the rapidly evolving regulatory environment. And, effective data collection and digital transformation isn’t just satisfying operational and compliance needs, it’s also helping Celcom understand their customers better.
Data governance is key
Since Celcom, above all, has to remain compliant as a telco, they began their digital transformation journey by evaluating data governance — hoping to use data to minimize time spent on compliance. They’re also keenly aware of the urgency involved in the need for data governance. Since data volume continues to increase at a rapid rate, problems arising from messy and poor-quality data would naturally be expected in the future. “Overall, they had a mandate to look at being a data-driven organization. And they called it the Celcom Journey,” explained Anand Ramamoorthy, director, APJ head of data governance and data security at Informatica, now in partnership with Celcom. As it’s expensive, data governance often isn’t a first priority, however, Celcom noted the strong link between data governance and becoming data-driven. So, they teamed up with Informatica to use their enterprise data governance solution. The CLAIRE metadata-driven AI engine performs the bulk of the work involved in improving data quality.
Improving compliance
Data governance has made Celcom more responsive to new regulations. “Celcom has MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) to report to, so they have no other choice. You can either wait for an event to happen, or you can be proactive,” said Ramamoorthy.
Additionally, by keeping on-demand records of their electronic communications, businesses can better stay compliant, improve digital conduct, and remain audit-ready, MirrorWeb explains. In fact, thanks to Informatica’s enterprise data governance solution, Celcom has successfully slashed man hours spent on compliance from 150 down to just five.
Speed and data-driven innovation: the benefits of data governance
Fortunately, prioritizing data governance made the data more portable and faster to analyze; various departments can now quickly use the data to better understand customer behavior. Strong data governance has therefore also enhanced data trust as people are more likely to trust the information or analytical conclusions the data represents. In turn, work load is reduced and data-driven decision-making is able to pave the way for data-driven innovation.
Celcom Axiata’s impressive digital transformation journey has also enabled operational and service excellence. “It’s about customer focus. So how do I provide a better service to my customers, at the same time being operationally efficient, so that I can be competitive in the world,” explained Ramamoorthy. Ultimately, Celcom is confident they’re making great progress with their new enterprise data governance solution. “As we place great importance on acquiring high-quality and trusted data in our digital transformation journey, our collaboration with Informatica will ensure the delivery of the highest standard of service experience to our customers,” said Datuk Khalid.
