Case Study: Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs achieves streamlined, error-free research grant management with SmartSimple Cloud

Eliminating manual data entry and formalizing processes for OMAFRA

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) Research and Innovation Branch faced a paper-based, manual grants process—applications submitted on disk, data cut-and-pasted into spreadsheets—leading to transcription errors, poor tracking of proposals and finances, and difficulty enforcing deadlines. To standardize workflows, improve accuracy and make the system easier for external users, OMAFRA selected SmartSimple Cloud’s RMS360° research management solution.

SmartSimple Cloud implemented RMS360° as a single online grants platform, formalizing application and approval workflows, consolidating financial reporting, and providing end-to-end tracking and reporting. The solution eliminated extensive manual data entry, significantly reduced the time needed to manage research issues and compile performance measures, and increased user satisfaction; OMAFRA now manages approximately $7.4 million USD through the system and reports overwhelmingly positive feedback and measurable operational efficiencies since adopting SmartSimple Cloud.

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Oswald Zachariah

Manager of Innovation and Knowledge Management