Produce a Master Data Management strategy

The Master Data Management (MDM) strategy refers to the mass data entry, aggregation, consolidation, deduplication, standardization, and maintenance procedures for an organization as a whole. By providing control and reliability, Master Data Management creates a single master data source that can be applied and maintained by many different entities throughout the business. Businesses are increasingly in need of cost optimization, faster product launches, more efficient regulatory compliance and an effective Master Data Management strategy. Without this, data misalignment within organizations can lead to suboptimal decision-making and slower growth. But developing a Master Data Management strategy and putting it into practice across an organization is not a simple task and achieving reliable data quality is one of greatest difficulties for companies.

Create an effective master data management strategy

Your company needs to consider several best practices when developing and implementing a Master Data Management strategy: Master Data Management Strategy, a long-term process: Your Master Data Management strategy must be an integral part of the very foundation of your business strategy. If data alignment is considered a one-time event, you will repeatedly experience the same data mismanagement problems. Involving leaders and other management levels: For MDM to be successful, leaders in all business units must be involved in strategy development and in ongoing conversations about governance. Educate employees: moreover, all staff and departments must be trained and receive regular refresher training on how to format, enter, store and access data. Think big, start small: When deploying a new MDM strategy, you must first focus on a smaller data set that raises palpable business challenges (for example, customer or product data for a specific geographical region). Once this problem is solved by a good MDM strategy, you will provide support for the largest number in a larger future deployment. If your MDM project can successfully deliver a significant improvement in a small but well-defined area within a few months, then the news of that success will spread and other parts of the business will be more receptive. Keep an eye on ROI: as business units have different objectives, a common ROI should be established early in the development of a MDM strategy and ROI must be reviewed after each deployment phase to ensure that everybody remains engaged. Update your data: your Master Data Management strategy must include regular, synchronized updates to ensure that your single data source has the most accurate information.

What is the future of MDM?

A certain number of trends are shaping the future of Master Data Management. The following are among them:

The Cloud

The need quickly to secure and integrate vital baseline data can make companies reluctant to put their basic information in the cloud. However, the growing integration of data with SaaS applications can increase the development of cloud-based MDM solutions.

Big Data

Today, MDM needs to incorporate a large data strategy. A protocol needs to be developed to manage data volume and complexity, for "awareness of social networks" and to provide a way to link unstructured data to customer profiles. When you start MDM projects, the lessons are clear: ensure that effective data governance is in place; choose your technology carefully, using people who are tried and tested in its implementation; and adopt an approach that takes account of all data domains gradually.