The Client
A dominant telecommunications provider across the Middle East, this organization operates a complex service portfolio spanning mobile, fixed-line, broadband, and enterprise ICT. Serving tens of millions of subscribers, it manages a vast internal cost structure spread across hundreds of departments in Network, IT, Finance, and Shared Services making accurate service-level costing both strategically critical and operationally challenging.
The Challenge
The scale of the organization’s service portfolio created compounding challenges in financial governance and cost management:
- Fragmented Ownership: Cost and reference data were distributed across hundreds of departments with no central oversight, making consistent financial modelling impossible.
- Inaccurate Cost Drivers: The absence of a structured collection process for cost drivers and Requests for Information (RFIs) introduced persistent inconsistencies into financial models.
- Manual Bottlenecks: Hundreds of manual follow-ups were required each month to gather departmental inputs, extending collection cycles to weeks and diverting significant operational resources.
- Operational Risk: An over-reliance on manual spreadsheets increased the likelihood of human error in critical margin calculations, introducing financial reporting risk.
The Impact
- 75%+Reduction in cost collection cycle time – from weeks to days.
- Unified Governance over previously fragmented cost and reference data.
- Zero New software licenses required to achieve the transformation.
The Solution
Hoonartek deployed a high-performance Reference Data Management (RDM) solution to automate the end-to-end financial data lifecycle. A centralized RDM platform was established as a governed repository for all cost, service, and reference data across the enterprise, replacing the fragmented, department-by-department model.
Manual follow-up processes were replaced with a standardized, automated collection workflow for departmental inputs, dramatically reducing cycle times and human error. To future-proof the architecture, an open integration layer was built using REST APIs, enabling any enterprise application to consume governed reference data without bespoke integration work. Critically, the entire transformation was delivered by optimizing existing technology investments, requiring no new software licenses.
Key Benefits
- Financial Velocity: The cost collection cycle was reduced from weeks to just a few days, accelerating financial close and strategic planning cycles.
- End-to-End Traceability: Departmental inputs are now directly linked to final services and products, providing full transparency in margin calculations.
- Unified Governance: Centralized oversight replaced fragmented data silos, creating a single, trusted source of cost and reference data for the enterprise.
- Improved Data Quality: Structured, automated collection eliminated human error and inconsistency in cost driver inputs.
- License Optimization: All transformation objectives were achieved within the existing technology estate, maximizing return on prior infrastructure investments.