Creating data democracy:

How Better Data and Change Management Scaled Global Impact

The organisation wanted to spread their wings and bring in more cash, but old systems were holding them back. They caused mountains of extra work, meant no one could ever find the right information, and, worst of all, put their reputation on the line.

We delivered a system architecture review, recommending targeted and incremental technology to get the most value for money. Our insights triggered instant improvements as well as ongoing action towards an affordable, empowered data strategy.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

CHALLENGE

This company is a non-profit that funds, plans and runs projects supporting and promoting democracy. It has a team of around 200 people working in the UK headquarters and around the world.

Ready to broaden their impact, the team wanted to diversify funding sources and grow the organisation. To achieve this, they planned to decentralise decision-making to the global team. The problem was their organically grown, manually-integrated systems would struggle to accommodate the new approach.

The organisation’s existing data was highly siloed with a mix of Sharepoint, email and departmental systems that weren’t integrated. This meant teams were doubling up on work, missing important details and even, on occasion, risking reputational damage by not being aware of conversations, engagements and historic relationships across the team.

Change management procedures needed updating to accommodate the organisation’s new approach to avoid confusion and project delays.

As a global non-profit, they faced unique challenges we would need to keep top of mind. These included:

No budget for a dedicated IT function, business analysts, developers, etc.

A global user base spanning every level of internet access and technical know-how.

These factors weighed hugely on the recommendations we would make.

VISION

The team wanted:

An integrated system that can report on a project from initial proposal to completion and review.

All project data at their fingertips to bid for new work, start valuable conversations, reference previous projects and measure success.

To have an accurate picture of their programme portfolio and pipeline of incoming work.

To improve communication and coordination between teams.

To build on their reputation for project delivery.

WHY NOW?

It all started when they wanted to show new starters how they manage projects. But when we put this data visualisation together for them, we realised how isolated each of their systems were. Each one focusing on just one part of the programme lifecycle. With no one system to follow a project from start to finish, people had to work in ways that caused duplication and errors.

The business development team, for example, had an app to help them organise their bid processes. But as soon as their work was done, the project had to be manually configured in the next system to support delivery which meant duplication of data, and potentially differences in reports between systems.

To realise their goals of growing and attracting more funding, this had to change.

HOW WE DID IT

STEP ONE User perspective

We spent three weeks getting to know their system according to the people who use it. Around 30 users including country leads, programme managers and senior leadership shared their views with us. They spoke about their challenges, both with the system and their circumstances: issues such as limited internet access or speeds.

Making a huge mind map of our conversations, links and common themes began to emerge. We knew the problem we needed to solve.

We looked at what data was captured by the business development team in their application, and the programme team in theirs, the finance team in theirs and developed a model of what was shared between them and what could be unified.

STEP TWO Proposing change

With no IT function, no big budget and a range of technical abilities, we knew that our proposal needed to make simple use of existing tools.

We produced a system review and data strategy that would take the organisation through to 2025. It included recommendations for:

• New change management processes.
• A balanced approach to tech that would enable existing processes.
• A guideline to help them problem solve in future.
• Removing the significant manual effort required to keep their systems in sync and produce quarterly reports.

RESULT

Our goal was to deliver recommendations that were affordable and, though they involved some tech, weren’t centred around huge tech investment. We leaned into the existing Microsoft Power Platform, applying a solid technical and engineering strategy to squeeze value out of the spend.

We stuck to familiar tools — Office 365, Sharepoint and Business Central — that integrate seamlessly with just enough automation at the right points. Similarly, we recommended Python to handle the trickier logic. It’s one of the most widely used and understood languages, making it easy and affordable to hire for or learn themselves.

We explained how to link these operational systems, so each team has the freedom to work as they need while enabling company-wide reporting. We gave them tools and frameworks to help capture their requirements accurately without drowning in meaningless paperwork, and to make sure those requirements focus on delivering impact.

But perhaps most importantly, we helped them become more independent in problem-solving. The team are now in control of their project requirements and can hold their suppliers to account.

Change began within weeks:

Improved change management and communication processes, appointing a new change management governance board.

Entered a budgeting cycle to set aside funds for future change.

Set timelines and started meeting partners to help action the new data strategy.

Felt equipped to define a problem and brief the work to contractors, recognising good work and getting value for money.

Identified sticking points (for example the human effort required to integrate systems, constantly feeding the data machine) and began finding ways to resolve them.

Developed a roadmap to unify systems and apps using a technology stack that can handle long-term change, not just quick fixes.

Outlier is a trusted partner because I know the team will get things over the line every time without fuss.

We approached Outlier for the PR24 systemisation because they’ve delivered to a high standard on other projects for us. As a trusted partner, we knew they could give us unbiased insights on what was needed to deliver PR24.

As expected, the team’s work was methodical, risk-based and impartial. Theygathered the right team of experts and genuinely partnered with our internal teams to weed through countless layers of data and systems to streamline our processes.

Ultimately, they delivered something straightforward and functional that the team could actually work with.

For me, knowing that I had Outlier on the case gave me one less thing to worry about in a sea of high-priority projects. I know that David and the team will get things over the line every time without fail. They’re a safe pair of hands whom I trust absolutely to deliver with no fuss.”