Over 85% of Saudi businesses are planning to upgrade their Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) frameworks by the end of this year alone, highlighting their urgency to align with evolving regulatory standards in the region. Data governance in Saudi Arabia is now no longer just a compliance measure; it has become the building block of national change as the country moves towards meeting Vision 2030. In this context, the National Data Management Office (NDMO) framework is the guide for trusted, high-quality, and secure data landscapes.

However, the question which continues to trouble many enterprises is – How do they go beyond policy to achieve practical, quantifiable execution?

The recent NDMO P2 in a Box Webinar hosted by SquareOne Technologies in collaboration with the Edgematics Group discussed this challenge head-on. The session was an initiative designed to simplify NDMO Priority 2 (P2) compliance requirements in 2026 Saudi Arabia, with the conversation revolving around the multiple aspects of resolving this challenge by crafting a solid and achievable roadmap. The conversation was practical and outcomes-oriented, bridging the gap between regulatory expectations and real-world application.

Listed below are the five standout insights that the session provided, along with a dropdown of the risks of delaying upgrades, the benefits of acting in real-time, and how organisations can confidently choose the right upgrade path.

5 Top Insights from the NDMO P2 in a Box Session

NDMO Compliance Is No Longer Optional

Compliance with NDMO P2 is now being viewed as the backbone of Saudi Arabia’s digital future. The NDMO P2 webinar, therefore, underlined how P2 extends beyond data cataloguing or classification and is, instead, about establishing a culture of governance, accountability, and seamless integration across systems. For CIOs and CDOs, the message was clear – compliance is not a one-time project; it’s a long-term capability. When implemented correctly, it enables the provision of consistent, trusted data that supports national reporting standards and opens cross-sector collaboration, directly supporting the goals of Vision 2030.

The Five-Month Fixed-Scope Implementation Plan Brings Clarity

One of the biggest value points of the NDMO P2 webinar that concluded earlier this month was how it gave a clear and actionable roadmap for achieving compliance with NDMO mandates. Moving away from abstract frameworks, the “P2 in a Box” model outlined a five-month, fixed-scope implementation plan that covers –

Installation and environment setup
Integration of up to five source systems
Master Data Management (MDM) for one domain
Five dashboards with complete data lineage visibility
Data quality jobs and rules configuration

This structured approach eliminates uncertainty, enabling organisations to achieve NDMO P2 compliance in Saudi Arabia ahead of the meet-by-2026 mandate. It provides a clear, timebound path to measurable progress – without the delays, extended consulting cycles, or uncontrolled scope expansions that often hinder transformation efforts.

Semarchy as a Useful Compliance Platform

At the heart of the implementation roadmap was Semarchy, a Gartner-recognised unified data platform. The platform combines data integration, governance, and MDM into one ecosystem, adaptable to on-premise, cloud, or hybrid deployments.

Semarchy strikes a balance between flexibility and governance control, enabling Saudi entities to manage compliance securely while scaling innovation. The NDMO P2 Webinar (Oct 2025, Saudi Arabia) demonstrated how Semarchy’s architecture simplifies lineage tracing, ensures data consistency, and accelerates time-to-value for NDMO projects.

Effective Change Management is the Real Decider of Success

The speakers, Noor Aqel (Business Advisor, SquareOne Technologies), Prem Nair (Country Manager, Edgematics Group), and Zaheer Ahmed (Principal Architect, Edgematics Group), highlighted that executive sponsorship, continuous training, and user involvement are crucial to sustaining compliance. Without effective change management, even the most advanced platforms may fail to deliver their full potential.

An effective culture of governance should begin at the high level with CDOs and CIOs leading the way by cultivating teamwork, transparency, and data ownership throughout the organisation. Motivation to adopt and embed governance within daily activities can ensure that compliance is not merely a checklist but a part of the organisation’s DNA.

Proven Success Stories Signal Readiness

The session concluded with a touchdown on real-life case studies of Saudi government organisations that have already successfully introduced NDMO frameworks. These demonstrations reflected quantifiable results, better quality of data, easier lineage tracking, and decision-making. With the appropriate roadmap and technology partner, NDMO compliance can not only be accomplished but also be reproducible and highly effective.

The Risks of Delaying Your NDMO Upgrade

Failing to upgrade legacy systems or align with NDMO standards carries significant risks. Delaying upgrades comes with serious consequences, including:

Data silos and inaccuracies, which undermine national reporting and operational trust
Regulatory non-compliance, leading to reputational damage and potential penalties
Delayed modernisation is making it harder to participate in government-led digital initiatives
Higher long-term costs, as reactive fixes tend to exceed the cost of structured implementation

In a data-driven economy, inaction is perhaps the most expensive choice.

Benefits of Upgrading and Choosing the Right Path

Upgrading through structured initiatives like P2 in a Box delivers tangible benefits, including:

Accelerated compliance with a pre-defined roadmap and predictable timeline
Unified visibility across data sources through governance dashboards and lineage tracking
Future-readiness, with scalable deployment models adaptable to evolving NDMO guidelines
Empowered decision-making, driven by cleaner, trusted data
Sustained ROI, as training, managed services, and change management ensure long-term impact

Selecting the appropriate upgrade journey begins with scope and responsibility. Rather than multi-year, open-ended transformation efforts, organisations can take up fixed-scope, fixed-duration efforts, which reduce uncertainty and show early wins that can foster confidence towards wider adoption.

In Conclusion

The NDMO P2 in a Box webinar has sown the seeds of a key mindset shift – that compliance is no longer about meeting requirements; it’s about building strategic capability. Against this backdrop, SquareOne Technologies is leading from the front in how Saudi enterprises can execute transformative data management with accuracy, speed, and measurable value.

With Vision 2030 shaping Saudi Arabia’s data future, the companies that implement “P2 in a Box” will improve systems, enhance governance, invest in people and lead as a result instead of merely complying.

Want to learn how we can help your organisation achieve NDMO P2 compliance? Get in touch with our team today.