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Alation > Case Studies > Data Governance for Growth: Crocs, Inc. and Alation
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Data Governance for Growth: Crocs, Inc. and Alation

Technology Category
  • Cybersecurity & Privacy - Identity & Authentication Management
  • Functional Applications - Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
Applicable Industries
  • Glass
  • Retail
Applicable Functions
  • Sales & Marketing
  • Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases
  • Inventory Management
  • Picking, Sorting & Positioning
Services
  • Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
The Challenge
Crocs, Inc., a global leader in innovative casual footwear, has been experiencing accelerated sales growth and setting high revenue targets. This growth led to an increased focus on data and analytics across all areas of the enterprise, including finance, digital, operations, supply chain, and more. However, managing disparate data sets across different systems became a challenge. To manage this data proliferation, Crocs invested in cloud-based infrastructure and technology, including a Snowflake data warehouse on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform and expanded their use of the Microsoft Power BI platform. Despite these advancements, Crocs recognized the need for better data governance to provide valuable insights and facilitate decision-making. An internal audit team identified several opportunities where data governance would provide value, leading to the creation of a data governance team.
About The Customer
Crocs, Inc. (Nasdaq: CROX) is a world leader in innovative casual footwear for women, men, and children. The company combines comfort and style with a value that consumers know and love. The company’s brands include Crocs and HEYDUDE. Their products are sold in more than 85 countries through wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels. The company has experienced several years of accelerating sales growth and continues to set high revenue targets for the future. This growth has led to an increased focus on data and analytics across all areas of the enterprise.
The Solution
Crocs chose Alation as their data catalog tool for its ease of use, simplicity, and adaptability. Alation allowed both technical and business users to quickly understand and govern the data they needed for their roles. The tool connects directly to multiple disparate data sources, allowing management of connections directly from the user interface without complete reliance on APIs. The Alation Data Governance app added features to support data governance at Crocs, including searchable policies for all users, analyst’s easy-to-use single pane of glass, and open community workflows to align teams. As Crocs cataloged the data in their Snowflake data warehouse, they used the Alation TrustCheck feature to flag data for deprecation, point people to the most appropriate data for their purposes, and identify data owners to facilitate future change management. The data catalog equipped users to understand data attributes, especially valuable when bringing new users up to speed on the company’s operations.
Operational Impact
  • The implementation of Alation has led to several operational benefits for Crocs. The tool has facilitated the expansion of Power BI use across the company, enabling users to better understand the context and origin of the data they analyze. It has also helped speed up change management processes, reducing the time taken from three months to less than a week. The cataloging of metadata in Alation prior to migrating to the Snowflake cloud data warehouse has supported cloud migration by helping Crocs identify data that can be deleted due to lack of use. Furthermore, the establishment of a central data dictionary has provided consistent terminology across the company, eliminating confusion caused by conflicting definitions and improving understanding of KPIs across business units.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Supports Power BI expansion, putting insights into the hands of 900 employees, from retail clerks to the CEO.
  • Speeds change management processes, reducing the time taken from three months to less than a week.
  • Facilitates cloud migration by cataloging data prior to moving it, helping identify unused data that can be deleted.

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