Modern master data management: top 3 considerations

Informatica Australia Pty Ltd

By Joseph Sullivan, Head of Master Data Management, Informatica APAC & Japan
Tuesday, 12 July, 2022


Modern master data management: top 3 considerations

Nothing is permanent except change and, today, organisations are responding to continual change with a broad range of digital processes and built-for-purpose applications.

This proliferation of systems and applications leads to high data volumes and a variety of data types distributed across many different sources and systems. According to IDC InfoBrief’s Driving Business Value from Data in the Face of Fragmentation and Complexity (sponsored by Informatica), nearly 80% organisations store more than half of their data in hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures.

The challenge organisations now face is an increase in data fragmentation and complexity that hinders their ability to respond to market shifts with agility, learn about their customers’ needs and wants, deliver great customer experiences, compete better and drive revenue growth.

This is where master data management (MDM) is key. MDM is a technology-enabled methodology that builds a master record of the people, places and things of a business. It allows organisations to share unified sets of data across the enterprise from a single source of truth, enabling teams to confidently derive actionable insights from the master data in support of strategic initiatives such as customer experience, digital commerce, financial performance management and supply chain optimisation.

As more organisations turn to master data management to deliver business value from their transformation initiatives, a traditional MDM system, however, will fall short of delivering the sought-after 360-degree view of data as most conventional MDM systems are only purpose-built for a single type of data or domain. This unfortunately results in a higher total cost of ownership and complexity for the organisation as they do not have a single integrated platform that can manage multiple domains for sharing metadata, reference data, business rules and other critical information to meet expanding business needs.

Conversely, a multi-domain MDM solution streamlines data quality and offers data enrichment and governance. It does this by applying these capabilities across domains to ensure everyone in the organisation can trust the data and make confident data-driven decisions.

It broadens uses cases for master data, such as better predictive analysis for insurers on risk-based pricing and underwriting decisions, an in-store promotion or specific product information in the aisle for direct personalised real-time shopper experience, or integrated supply chain management for retail and fast-moving consumer goods, and public service delivery.

In the context of a multi-domain MDM solution, it further allows organisations to integrate and analyse disparate data assets with greater efficiency and ease.

Here are three considerations that organisations should seek out for themselves when deciding on a multi-domain MDM solution to maximise on their investment:

  • The power of relationships in data-driven business decisions: An ability to manage multiple domains of master data within a single system and understanding the inter-relationships between these entities, such as location to customer, product, supplier and assets, drives better business outcomes. Organisations with a holistic view of data from sales, service, marketing and finance to after-sales support also gain comprehensive information that is useful in orchestrating the entire customer journey. For large organisations with multiple subsidiaries or those undergoing mergers, the ability to have a trusted, single view across multiple businesses and all domains helps accelerate integrations, improve compliance and reduce risk.
  • Simplified solution with robust capabilities: A cloud-native microservices architecture that includes intuitive interfaces, guided workflows and AI/machine learning capabilities simplifies data discovery, curation and the use of master data for analytical and operational needs. With increased data democratisation across teams in the organisation, master data drives more business value and improves performance metrics such as share of wallet, customer satisfaction or Net Promoter Score, and product data completeness across different touchpoints.
  • Faster time to market and reduced TCO: Organisations that invest in an all-in-one solution with deployment in weeks and not months are better equipped to keep pace with the rapid market changes. All the data management capabilities required for master data management with preconfigured domains and industry-specific content enable them to simplify their implementation and administration. Such an integrated solution also helps organisations reduce the total cost of ownership.
     

With modern intelligent cloud data management, organisations can overcome the issues they face with data complexity and data fragmentation so they can quickly respond to changing market conditions and drive greater value to the business. The right multi-domain MDM solution will always provide organisations with the trusted, intelligent data they need to manage the intricate relationships with customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders that are critical in creating the success between the organisation and customers.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/momius

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