Master Data Management

Sources:


 The What, Why and Who of Master Data

Management (Roger Wolter & Kirk Haselden,
Microsoft)
 Demystifying Master Data Management (Tony
Fisher, CIO Magazine)
 Mastering Data Comes At A Price (David L.
Margulius, InfoWorld)

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 What is Master Data?
§ Simply put, the “critical nouns” of a business
§ People
§ Things
§ Places
§ Concepts


§ Data that is considered of special importance to a

company, and largely adheres to a number of
criteria


2
 Master Data Criteria
§ Behaviour
§ Lifecycle
§ Cardinality
§ Lifetime
§ Complexity
§ Value
§ Volatility
§ Reuse
§
3
What is Master Data Management?
§ “…the technology, tools, and processes
required to create and maintain
consistent and accurate lists of master
data.”
§
§ Not just a technical solution, business
processes tightly coupled to application of
technology
1.

4
Why engage in Master Data Management?
§ Data is vital to modern commerce
§ Data is used by several applications, drawn from
master sources (service-orientated
architecture)
§ Benefits:
§ Improved customer satisfaction
§ Improved inventory practices
§ Appropriate for consolidation of data sources
during mergers/acquisitions
§ Important in compliance/regulatory efforts
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Phases of Master Data Management
1. Identity sources of Master Data
2. Identify the producers and consumers of Master Data
3. Collect/analyze metadata
4. Appoint data stewards
5. Implement data governance
6. Develop Master Data Model
7. Choose a toolset
8. Design the Infrastructure
9. Generate and test the Master Data
10.Modify the producing/consuming systems
11.Implement the maintenance process
§
§
6
 MDM – Just another bandwagon?
§ Drawbacks and criticism:
§ May not be appreciated by departmental
managers
§ Differing methods of implementing/maintaining
§ Political issues (ownership)
§ Costly
§ Accurate data can be critical for business success
§ May be required due to mergers/acquisitions
§ Data degradation will only get worse if left
“untreated”
§ 7
 Just a technique?
§ “…the technology, tools, and processes
required to create and maintain consistent
and accurate lists of master data.”
§
§ It is a technique, but due to the nature of
data, and how it is used in an
organisation, master data management
has wide ranging consquences.

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 Relationship between MDM,
warehousing and SOA.
§ Warehousing:
§ Warehouse data should be drawn from master
sources where appropriate
§ Transactional/Non transactional
§ Other applications may draw data from
warehouses
§
§ Service Orientated Architecture
§ SOA has an important role in MDM
§ Mechanism to distribute data
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