MDM for whom?

MDM (Master Data Management) is a key practice for improving the consistency and quality of data within a company. But it is also a practice that is too little known, despite its importance. Many business owners may sometimes feel they are using their data well, with Excel spreadsheets, local and cloud databases and business software. However, the risk of data mismanagement is immense: wasted time, risk of piracy, loss of productivity, bad customer image and, ultimately, the risk of losing contracts. So who should really be interested in MDM? Everyone … or almost everyone! Response elements.

MDM is for you if you have multiple parallel data management systems

When we think about data management, we think of big CAC40 groups, multinationals and complicated examples of companies with multiple subsidiaries. It’s true, but it’s not only this. Whether your company’s workforce is in the tens or the thousands, once you’re managing several databases in parallel, the question becomes vital to answer. For CIOs and business leaders, the challenge is to identify the point at which “house” management of data reaches its limits in terms of productivity. A plateau that implies that any future addition, change or modification of data will result in more productivity loss than it will yield. Your customer file can be managed with Excel, but if you add new customers with new products and external data sources that gain in impact, scalability will quickly be limited. Growing up quickly and consistently means good data management. And when data is complicated to manage, MDM is a wise decision and an investment for the future.

MDM is for you if your data does not communicate with each other

As long as the data stays in its environment, everything is fine. But as you are looking to develop a complete and interoperable ecosystem, things get complicated. Excel spreadsheets that do not talk to lists on MailChimp, which do not understand the scoring organization of your prospects, which do not talk to customer files, which don’t understand the listing of accounting … In the end, your data can look like a true tower of Babel where everyone speaks a different language. Result: real loss of efficiency and time. When companies grow organically, driven by a dynamic market and technological innovations, more time is spent managing day to day matters than organizing and structuring our organization. It is a human and normal step. The problem is that exporting and reprocessing an Excel file that previously took two minutes, now requires several tedious steps to integrate multiple data, from various sources with a particular coding. From two minutes, once a week, the data processing requires first ten minutes every two days, then thirty minutes each day. If so, it’s an important sign that needs your attention.

MDM is for you if you engage in e-commerce

Once you start selling online, order online or people register on your website, MDM quickly becomes indispensable. Interactions between your internal data and external queries require new quality standards. Otherwise, your digital data will quickly become fragmented, atomized and duplicated and the multiple digital platforms used do not make things easier. Without MDM, a pure player or a retailer will make mistakes in the production and logistics chain, customer targeting, sales and marketing processes as well as in all other business functions. This means too much time and energy patching instead of building and developing. On the other hand – and especially in commerce – the trend is towards multi-channel approaches. Convergence of consumer journeys across all physical and digital channels available with real-time data updates. Convergence that requires real mastery of data … and therefore, MDM. There are no typical business portraits for using or not using MDM. Everything depends on your data, its importance in decision-making and strategic development choices, as well as your use of that data. The more important the data is and the more the data can impact the customer’s choice, the more it must be handled professionally. In this case, the MDM is a good practice that will relieve lasting pressure on the services of your organization.