Master Data Management (MDM) – A phased Approach.

By definition of Wikipedia, “ In business, master data management (MDM) comprises the processes, governance, polices, standards and tools that consistently define and manage the critical data of an organization to provide a single point of reference. Master data management has the objectives of providing processes for collecting, aggregating, matching, consolidating, quality-assuring, persisting and distributing such data throughout an organization to ensure consistency and control in the ongoing maintenance and application use of this information.”

The article “Supporting Your Data Management Strategy with a Phased Approach to Master Data management” by SAS brings some interesting points and provides some development approach.

We often talk about the MDM is to create a central repository of data or the master date to provide an organization a single point of reference. But the article argues that “If the goal of master data management is to integrate business value dependencies into a long-term information strategy, it is worthwhile to rethink both the intent – and potentially the value – of the concept of “master data.” Therefore, the focus must shift away from delivering master repositories. Organizations must transition the implementation from being technology-based and consolidation-focused to being value-based and consumption-focused. This more reasonable approach to the idea of master data is not creating a single source of truth but providing unobstructed access to a consistent representation of shared information.”

This article also provides a phased approach to MDM, this approach can influence a phased organizational plan for fully embracing master data management. The plan incorporates five key fundamental techniques to enable master data management success, including:

•        Business data consumer engagement.

•        Data governance.

•        Collaborative semantic metadata management.

•        Data quality management.

•        Identity resolution and management.

In our organization we are developing master data management strategy, this article makes me rethink how we should develop strategy which can help to meet the business requirements. I think MDM not only needs to provide “a single point of truth” master data but it is also important to deliver the benefits of sharing consistent, high-quality data while aligning the milestone and deliverables of medium and long-term information strategy.

Reference

Supporting Your Data Management Strategy with a Phased Approach to Master Data management - SAS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_data_management