02/03/2026

Nelt Group is one of Southeast Europe’s largest and fastest-growing distribution and logistics companies, operating across multiple countries, markets, and product categories.
With thousands of customers, complex supply chains, and a rapidly expanding digital footprint, data is at the heart of Nelt’s operations - from sales and forecasting to logistics, finance, and customer relationships.

As Nelt Group continues its digital transformation, leadership recognized that high-quality, well-governed data is a strategic business asset, not just an IT responsibility.

Despite having a large amount of data, Nelt Group faced a familiar problem - they had data, but not enough trust in it.

Key challenges included:

• Fragmented and inconsistent data - data was spread across multiple systems, with different definitions of customers, products, and metrics. This made reporting slow and sometimes contradictory.
• Lack of ownership - no clear data owners or stewards were defined in the business. Data was seen as “IT’s responsibility,” even though business teams relied on it every day.
• Limited readiness for advanced analytics & AI - Nelt wanted to use predictive models, advanced analytics, and AI, but they knew that poor data quality and unclear governance would make those initiatives unreliable and risky.
• Operational inefficiencies

Without clear data governance:

• Reports took too long to prepare
• Forecasts were harder to trust
• Compliance and data privacy risks were increasing
• Teams spent too much time validating data instead of using it

In short: Nelt Group had the data, but not enough structure to turn it into value.

When we first started working with Nelt, one thing quickly became clear: everyone felt that data was important, but no one could say with certainty how healthy it really was.

Sales had their numbers. Finance had theirs. Logistics had another version. Everyone was working hard, yet people spent more time explaining why the numbers were different than using them to make decisions.

So instead of starting with tools or solutions, we started with one simple question: “Where are we really today?”

We utilized the TM Forum Data Governance Maturity Model as a neutral, proven framework and asked individuals across IT, business units, and leadership to describe how data actually flows through the organization, rather than how it should flow.

Through structured questionnaires, document reviews, and in-depth conversations, we uncovered how data was created, changed, approved, and reported. We looked at how customers and products were defined, how quality issues were handled, and how reports were produced.

For many stakeholders, this was the first time they saw the full picture. Not just their own part of the puzzle, but how everything connected.

Nelt Group finally had an objective, shared understanding of its data maturity, where things worked well, and where risk, duplication, and inefficiencies were hiding.

That clarity became the foundation for everything that followed.

Once everyone saw the same picture, they realized that data problems were not really about systems - they were about ownership and alignment.

Different teams were making perfectly logical decisions in isolation, but no one was responsible for the full lifecycle of data. Who defines a product? Who owns a customer? Who decides what “revenue” really means?

To solve this, we brought the right people into the same room. Not in long technical meetings, but in practical, focused workshops that connected business leaders, IT experts, and decision-makers.

In these sessions, people didn’t talk about databases. They talked about how they run the business.

Sales explained how they see customers.
Logistics explained how they track products.
Finance explained what they need for reporting and compliance.
IT explained what systems actually support all of this.

For the first time, these perspectives were aligned, creating a shared and consistent understanding of data across the organization.

• What is a product?
• What is a customer?
• What does “correct” data really mean? And most importantly: Who is responsible when it is not?

This was the moment when data governance stopped being an abstract concept and became a real business discipline inside Nelt.

Understanding and alignment are powerful, but only if they lead to change. So we translated everything Nelt learned into a practical roadmap that people could actually use.

Together, we defined who would own which data domains, who would be responsible for quality, and who would make decisions when conflicts arise. We proposed a Data Governance Committee to ensure these rules are not forgotten, but actively managed at the leadership level.

We also looked at where automation could replace manual work (for example, in data discovery, quality checks, and lineage tracking), so people spend less time fixing data and more time using it.

Finally, we defined KPIs so progress would be visible: not opinions, not impressions, but measurable improvement.

What Nelt received was not a report to put on a shelf, but a clear plan for how to move forward, step by step, aligned with real business priorities.

Before this project, Nelt had data, but not full confidence in it. Afterwards, something fundamental changed.

People across the organization now understand how good their data really is, where it is strong, and where it needs to improve. They know who owns which data and who is accountable for keeping it trustworthy. And they have a roadmap that connects data governance directly to business goals like forecasting, efficiency, and customer insight.

This has a powerful effect. Instead of asking: “Can we trust this number?” Teams can now ask: “What should we do about it?”

This shift is what makes advanced analytics, predictive models, and AI possible.
Because these technologies don’t need more data, they need better data, owned by the business and governed with purpose.

Perhaps the most important outcome is this: Data governance at Nelt is no longer an IT initiative. It is now part of how the company manages risk, drives growth and makes decisions. And that is what turns data into a strategic asset.

Following the maturity assessment and Data Governance Framework PoC, the expected impact includes:

• lower reporting and operational costs through clearer data ownership and standardized processes,
• faster and more reliable management reporting driven by consistent key data elements, and
• reduced rework and error-related costs through formalized data quality controls.

The initiative also increases confidence in KPIs, reduces compliance and audit risk, and establishes a cost-effective foundation for advanced analytics and AI initiatives, protecting future data and technology investments.

Nelt is now positioned to use data not just to understand the past but to predict the future. With a solid data governance foundation, Nelt can confidently scale:

• Advanced analytics
• Predictive models
• AI use cases
• Customer 360° views

From the very beginning, Nelt made one thing clear: they were not looking for another tool. They were looking for someone who could help them find their way through complexity.

In large organizations, data problems rarely come from a lack of technology. They come from too many systems, too many definitions, and too many priorities pulling in different directions. What Nelt needed was not a vendor but a guide.

That is where we came in.

1. We start with “Where do we begin?”

Instead of pushing a predefined solution, we helped Nelt answer the hardest question first:
Where should we start so that it actually makes a difference?

By combining maturity assessment, business workshops, and executive alignment, we were able to identify quick wins that matter, without losing sight of the bigger picture. This meant Nelt could move forward in small, controlled steps, while still building a foundation for enterprise-wide analytics, AI, and governance.

It is the difference between fixing symptoms and building a strategy.

2. We focus on people and processes - because technology follows

Many consulting firms talk about data governance as a technical framework. We approach it as an organizational capability.

At Nelt, we didn’t just define systems. We defined roles, ownership and accountability:
Who is responsible for customer data?
Who decides on product hierarchies?
Who owns data quality when something goes wrong?

By embedding Data Stewards and Data Owners into the business, governance became part of everyday work, not a distant IT function. This is what ensures that the improvements are sustainable long after the project ends.

3. We understand enterprise complexity

Nelt is not a simple organization. Multiple countries. Multiple legal frameworks. Multiple ERP systems. Multiple business models.

This kind of environment requires more than theory - it requires experience.

We understand how data behaves in large, distributed enterprises, where one change in a master data model can affect sales, logistics, finance, and compliance across borders. That experience allowed us to design a governance approach that works in the real world, not just on paper.

4. We are independent - and that protects the client

Perhaps most importantly, we are not tied to any specific software vendor. That means every recommendation we made - whether about data catalogs, quality tools, or governance platforms - was based on what Nelt actually needs, not on what someone wants to sell.

This vendor-agnostic approach gives Nelt the freedom to choose technology that fits their strategy, their budget, and their long-term roadmap - without being locked into a single ecosystem.

Nelt didn’t choose us because we had the loudest tools.
They chose us because we could connect strategy, people, and data into one clear direction.

And that is what makes data governance work - not just today, but for the future they are building.

Technology matters. But governance, ownership, and clarity make it work.