Data Analytics and Assurance

Harness your data

Your data is a vast and growing asset that can revolutionise your business's decision-making if used correctly. Having confidence in your data is essential to manage the ever-evolving risks facing businesses today. It can help you to create actionable insights that can unlock the full potential of your data and transform your organisation.

We deliver technology-enabled solutions to help our clients harness their data and turn it into valuable insights. We establish trust in your data and ensure its quality through our Assurance practice, a crucial foundation of our work. Our range of data analytics services and experience across many industries, deliver innovative solutions that cater to your specific business needs.

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Making your data work for you

The volume and variety of data has increased exponentially in recent years. The challenge comes in converting it into a more comprehensible format to derive actionable insights and apply them as you transform your organisation.

Data governance

Data governance is key in ensuring that your data complies with regulations, is high quality and the information it contains is protected. A good data governance model will protect your business and streamline its efficiency. Without it, your data can quickly become inaccurate, outdated and vulnerable. This can potentially lead to data breaches, reputational loss and non-compliance fines.

Key data governance challenges include:

  • Creating a set of rules for storage, back-up, access, accuracy, consistency and protection against internal and external threats
  • Measuring effectiveness
  • Implementing a governance strategy that complies with regulations such as GDPR, Data Protection 1988/2003, E-Privacy Regulation 2011 and UK Protection Act 2018

We have combined experience and expertise in helping you to set a vision for data, collecting, storing and using data, creating access to it, as well as its ongoing maintenance and destruction.

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Data migration

Data migration is the movement of data from multiple legacy database sources to a new single target system. Before migration starts, you need to understand your organisation's data, its architecture, and how it flows through the business.

Key challenges in implementing data migration include:

  • Planning migration downtime, costs and risk
  • Designing and implementing a strategy
  • Designing data architecture and data flows
  • Identifying the technical components needed for a successful migration

We design and deliver the data architecture, data flows and technical components needed for a successful migration. Our methodology is tried and tested, adheres to best practices and is GDPR compliant.

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Reporting and visualisation

Effective, timely reporting can help decision-makers identify areas that need attention or improvement. It can help them experiment with different scenarios, predict KPIs and most importantly supplement strategic thinking.

Key challenges in implementing reporting are the cost, time and technical expertise needed to implement solutions in the current technology ecosystem.

Other challenges include:

  • Selecting which tools fit your needs and minimise investment levels
  • Achieving sustainable reporting that provides the intelligence required
  • Identifying KPIs required for the business
  • Minimising the impact of changing business landscape and its intelligence needs
  • Understanding the audience and how it receives and processes information

Our experience in both answering key questions and understanding these challenges and answering key questions means we are ready to help your organisation. We deliver bespoke business intelligence solutions as well as deploying visualisation and reporting dashboards that are scalable and highly interactive, helping you see and make the right decisions.

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Data strategy

A data strategy provides a set of guidelines for storage, usage and access to data in an organisation. It should ensure that data is accessible and managed effectively across different disciplines and projects to support processing and decision-making activities.

Challenges that organisations face in implementing a data strategy are:

  • Defining goals and objectives
  • Identifying the components of data strategy
  • Aligning it to the technology ecosystem
  • Managing cost and complexity

We have practical experience of delivering transformational programs for business' data and analytics. We have expertise in developing the data strategy and holistically working with the C-suite in setting out the what, the how and the when of strategic change.

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Data quality

High-quality data is accurate, complete, consistent, and relevant. It allows an organisation to understand the pulse of the business, gives a competitive advantage, increases profitability and helps make informed decisions.

How an organisation addresses data quality can have a major impact on its financial position, legal and regulatory compliance, service delivery standards and customer satisfaction.

Some factors that can help ensure data is high quality are:

  • Planning for collecting data
  • Setting out data quality regulations
  • Strategising for data correction
  • Reviewing data collection on an ongoing basis
  • Strategising for distribution and integration

We support our clients to design, implement and sustain data quality across their organisations to ensure their most valuable assets are fit for purpose.

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Data protection

Organisations need to ensure their data is protected so that it can be restored quickly in cases of corruption or loss. Data protection ensures data privacy, and prevents it from being compromised.

Key data protection challenges include:

  • Identifying a framework that best safeguards data
  • Monitoring and ensuring that consent is obtained before data is collected
  • Supporting employees to understand the nuances of data privacy and security
  • Embedding data privacy into organisations' technology
  • Controlling the application of regulations during times of change
  • Identifying structures to ensure data protection is being updated

We have a high level of designing and delivering data protection policies. Our methodology is tried and tested, adheres to best practice and is GDPR compliant.

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Our data analytics and assurance services

Building trust in your data

Data is multiplying at a mind-boggling rate and is driving market opportunities and economic growth in unprecedented ways. To stay competitive, companies need to unlock the full value of data while also focusing on its secure and ethical use. Decision-makers and automated systems need data to be organised and trustworthy to deliver the right outcomes and meet market expectations.

The correct management and protection of your data positively influences the public perception of your business and builds trust in its work. It facilitates the identification and management of risks. It allows vital insights to be gleaned and key business decisions made.

For years, we've been helping people analyse and trust their information with our robust data analysis methods. We have built on this experience to create a methodology that is the best in the industry. We can help you develop a data and analytics strategy, form the right team to put the strategy into practice and create a dynamic data-driven culture.

Our services include:

  • Data governance and protection strategy
  • Data quality and assurance
  • Data migration
  • Database and data warehousing
  • Spreadsheet control and remediation
  • XBRL

Applying advanced analytics

Companies are embracing data analytics more and more to help them to make better-informed decisions, tackle complex problems, and change the way they work.

Low-quality data and lacking the right information to drive business insights can have negative impacts on a business.

We help our clients discover hidden insights from the data they hold and help implement them in their business. We support them to drive peak performance and ensure decision-makers have access to actionable results. It's like looking ahead with a telescope, not glancing through the rear-view mirror.

Our services include:

  • Business intelligence
  • Business modelling
  • Risk and compliance analytics
  • Real-time analytics
  • Internal audit analytics
  • ERP analytics

Fueling your digital transformation

In today's changing business landscape, companies are welcoming technology-enabled transformation to their operations. They are seeking to maximise their existing investments in data and analytics technology. However, with so many options available, it can be difficult for businesses to understand which technologies would be the best fit for them.

We use our business knowledge and experience, combined with our data and analytics expertise to help our clients to make the right technology-enabled transformation. We help them understand the cost and the value they are getting from their data and analytics technology.

We help simplify their systems and optimise their cost base, as well as help them to stay at the forefront of their market, maintaining a competitive advantage while managing regulatory pressures. Our specialists can help you apply data-based insights to pinpoint opportunities in your industry to work smarter, focus and prioritise.

Our services includes:

  • Process intelligence
  • Robotic process automation (RPA)
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning
  • Intelligent controls
  • Cloud computing
  • Explainable AI

Digital audit

Our Audit practice is a specialist team that combines our technology, data, business and accounting expertise to provide clients across all industries. We're constantly investing in new audit technology and the skills of our people, aligned with the rapid pace of change. That way, we deliver trust that is deeper, broader, and more forward-looking than any of our competitors.

Our advances in digital audit technology have ensured we're creating real insights into a client's markets, people and management. Using cutting edge technology, we have the ability to stay connected, wherever we are.

Contact us

Keith Power

Partner, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

Tel: +353 86 824 6993

Richard Day

Partner, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

Gemma Collins

Director, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

Alannah Comerford

Director, PwC Ireland (Republic of)

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