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What is Master Data Management?

Everything you need to know about master data management (MDM) and how it brings data together from across the enterprise and business ecosystem to create a single, accurate and transparent record of the truth.

Introduction to master data management

Master data management (MDM) is the core process used to manage, centralize, organize, categorize, localize, synchronize and enrich master data according to the business rules of the sales, marketing and operational strategies of your company.

Master data can take the form of product, customer, supplier, location and asset information, in addition to any information sources that drive your business.

The efficient management of master data in a central repository gives you a single authoritative view of information and eliminates costly inefficiencies caused by data silos.

It supports your business initiatives and objectives through identification, linking and syndication of information and content across products, customers, stores/locations, employees, suppliers, digital assets and more.

Master your data using a MDM solution to support your business strategy

What is Master Data Management? And Why You Need It Discover the value of master data management to deliver better business outcomes. Get the White Paper
The Complete A-Z of Master Data Management In this ebook, we give you an overview and a definition of the most common master data management terms and abbreviations. Get the Ebook
Building the Business Case Start building your own success story about how MDM will help create value in your organization. This ebook is the ultimate guide to identify value and promote MDM to the organization. Get the Ebook
Video Using MDM to deliver better data, better business and a better world

Success in the digital economy means giving customers what they want. One thing they want more of: trustworthy data on product ingredients, origin, environmental impact and more. MDM enables the controlled visibility to deliver it. 

 Watch the Video
Video introduction to master data management

What are common challenges that master data management overcomes?

MDM is a key enabler for providing a single, trustworthy view of critical business information. Trusted data sources help reduce the costs of application integration, improve customer experience and yield actionable analytic insight. MDM delivers this by overcoming three common challenges:
Siloed systems Siloed systems creating multiple versions of data.
Inaccurate data Inaccurate data due to errors made in manual data entry.
Dated timelines Dated timelines resulting in data that is not trustworthy.
 
Why is master data management important?

MDM connects, masters and shares critical data from all your systems, including ERP, CRM, ecommerce and more. It allows you to create a 360° view of your information, including everything from the buying history of your customers to product availability and supplier interaction.

MDM is important because it allows businesses to:


  • Focus product, service and business efforts on activities that increase sales, and de-prioritize those draining time and resources.
  • Accelerate data maturity by improving the accuracy, visibility and clarity required in digital business.
  • Enable data transparency to meet the evolving needs of customers for personalized, engaging experiences.
master data management is important
EBOOK Transforming Business with Master Data Management For Dummies

Harness the power of data transparency and start making better business decisions using trusted data. Read Transforming Business with Master Data Management For Dummies and learn about using MDM to ensure data is accurate, updated and shareable across the enterprise value chain.

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Transforming Business with Master Data Management For Dummies
 

What are the benefits of master data management?

Ensuring visibility and access to trustworthy data across the business ecosystem with MDM delivers multiple benefits for your business entity. Examples of benefits include:
MDM ROI Calculator Put a figure on the return on your data management investment

Data management projects are hard to quantify. There is great financial value to be gained from improving data quality and automating data processes. But how do you estimate it? The ROI Calculator can help you build your business case for master data management.

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ROI calculator for data management
A step-by-step guide to MDM in mergers and acquisitions

Are you navigating a merger or acquisition? Master data management can make or break the success of your new venture. Follow these seven steps to ensure a smooth transition and successful integration of your company's data.

 Read the blog
master data management in mergers and acquisitions
A guide to the four most common MDM implementation styles

Unlock the power of your data with the right implementation style. Learn about the 4 most popular master data management implementation styles, i.e consolidation, registry, centralized and coexistence and discover which one is the best fit for your organization.

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Common master data management implementation styles

Selected Customer Success Stories

customer quotes kelloggs
The thing that has made Kellogg’s implementation unique is that it has been global from day one. When we evaluated solutions, it had to have that capability and be able to accommodate all the languages and nuances for our markets around the world."
Global Director IT Marketing | The Kellogg Company Read the Success Study
oatly customer video
When I think back about the collaboration I had with Stibo Systems, I see them as the role models I look for in new IT suppliers. ”
Albin Junhede Sustainability Reporting System Lead, Oatly Watch the Video
 

What are the different types of master data?

Master data is a single source of common data, but there are many master data types. They are often duplicated across the business and stored on disconnected, siloed systems with little agreement on standard definition. Common types of master data are:
Product data
Rich and accurate product data helps customers make informed buying decisions. Studies show giving people better information and content boosts online sales and reduces returns. High-quality product data also facilitates accelerated vendor onboarding.
 Customer data
Accurate, timely and complete customer data improves business initiatives and streamlines processes for both B2B and B2C companies. It drives accurate segmentation and reporting, more personalized experiences, increased sales, regulatory compliance and more.
 Supplier data
Store and access all data related to your suppliers in one repository and reference it to any other data domain to achieve a 360° view of your critical data. This results in greater control, closer relationships and an improved supplier and product onboarding process.
 Location data
Location data is essential for managing your physical stores, offices, warehouses and more. Combine location data with product and supplier data to gain better insight into your data supply chain and mitigate business risks.
 Party data
Mastering party data allows you to create the relationships that are vital to gain an accurate understanding of the value of each of your records. It makes it easier to identify customers and provide better customer service.
 Reference data
Keeping reference data fields such as country, currency and conversions up-to-date is critical to making key business decisions, understanding their impact on the performance of your systems and meeting regulatory compliance.
 Asset data
Managing asset data with disparate systems across departments can drag down data quality. With all asset data linked together in a central repository you have an accurate overview of who is using what equipment, where it is stored, and when it was maintained and by whom.
 Employee data
Employees are valuable assets. Managing employee data in a centralized MDM solution enables you to connect it with other domains and gain new insights, such as which employees have worked on what projects, where they’re located and their skill levels.
 Ledger data
MDM prevents ERP from becoming a ledger data silo. By connecting ERP with other systems and third-party sources, MDM enhances efficiency and becomes your single source of truth, consolidating product data as well as supplier and vendor information.
 Vendor data
For manufacturers, trustworthy and visible vendor data is crucial to secure correct billing and transaction data, achieve compliance with vendor and end-consumer demands and quickly expand with new vendors who are typically retailers.
The complete A-Z guide to master data management definitions

Many organizations struggle to fully understand the concepts and definitions associated with MDM. That is why we have put together this Complete A-Z of MDM Guide – a comprehensive resource that will help you better understand the field and the key definitions you need to know. 

 Get the eBook
RFP for master data management
How to build a MDM roadmap in five easy steps

Unlock the full potential of your data with a clear and actionable master data management roadmap. Learn how to create a strategic roadmap in just five easy steps.

 Read the blog
master data management roadmap
 

What are the most common master data management solutions?

MDM extends the value of IT investments through integration with enterprise applications and systems. MDM solutions cover different data domains relevant to all of your business challenges. The four most common MDM solutions are:
Customer Master Data Management Customer Master Data Management
Gaining a single view of your customer records is challenging due to data being scattered across multiple, disconnected systems. The inability to provide trustworthy customer data can lead to a poor customer experience, lost revenue and customer churn. Customer Master Data Management connects, cleanses and enhances customer data, providing a foundation for personalized experiences as well as enhancing the ability to provide data transparency to support privacy, governance and regulatory compliance.
Learn More
Product Master Data Management Product Master Data Management
Also referred to as product information management, Product Master Data Management enables businesses to create a single source of truth for product data, and to share it with speed and confidence with customers and partners. The ability to enable and manage data transparency empowers businesses to address growing consumer demand for information and insight into product ingredients and origin, fueling engaging, trustworthy relationships while maintaining complete privacy and control.
Learn More
Supplier Master Data Management Supplier Master Data Management
Supplier Master Data Management enables a single, trustworthy view of your suppliers and their products for greater savings and efficiencies. It enables you to accelerate onboarding of supplier and product data, mitigate risk, increase product assortments and support supply chain resilience. With Supplier MDM it become easy to centralize and govern supplier and product data which results in greater data management cost savings, efficiency and customer confidence.
Learn More
Location Master Data Management Location Master Data Management
Gaining a single, trustworthy view of your location data, leveraging built-in data quality, governance and integration capabilities becomes possible with Location Master Data Management. Location MDM enables businesses to manage, maintain, and seamlessly share location and site master data across multiple communication channels and applications to thereby, achieve a single view of your geographic, site and inventory data, which enables better customer experiences and boost profitability.
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According to Accenture, knowing a customer’s purchase history makes them 65% more likely to choose you over a competitive offering.
10 signs you really need a master data management platform

Is your organization struggling with unclear data, disconnected systems, and poor decision-making? It may be time to consider a master data management platform. In this post, we will explore the telltale signs that indicate your organization needs MDM.

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signs you need master data management
 
What are the core capabilities of master data management?

MDM delivers core data capabilities that connect and provide information to every point in the business, enabling data-driven innovation and digital transformation, including:

  • Acquire: Consolidate and unify data from multiple disconnected, often siloed systems to produce a complete trustworthy picture.
  • Profile: Link entities to create new information.
  • Cleanse: Generate accurate, well-structured data that is validated, up-to-date and easy to use in other systems.
  • Manage: Streamline and automate business processes, fuel decision making, implement data governance and ensure compliance.
  • Share: Drive collaborative efficiency and growth by ensuring consistent, reliable, transparent access for customers and partners.
  • Protect: Know where your data is to make it easier to secure and ensure privacy.
 Read the blog
features and capabilities of master data management
Getting started How to achieve success with master data management

The more you understand the complexities of your business challenges, the more deliberately you can begin to choose your MDM solution. To help, here are four basic things you’ll need to take into consideration, before getting started on your journey to MDM and business success:
How to achieve master data management success

Build the business case
Since there are many stakeholders and factors involved in any large-scale IT project, the below guide will help you build the business case.

Align with your mission
Consider how your plan aligns with the purpose of your business. You should also develop your roadmap to highlight the obstacles you need to overcome.


Get the Ebook

Choose the right approach
Consider the available delivery options. For example, choose either a linear or an agile approach.

 

Quantify business value
Consider what success looks like to you and your business and establish clear, attainable metrics to track and measure results.

Customer references

Unlock the value of your data through better data management.
marks and spencer success story A single, well-managed source of data and increased automation have resulted in a system with reduced input errors and faster product publication at Marks & Spencer.
Read the Story
OfficeDepot OfficeMax success story The business supplies and services provider slashed time-to-market and input errors by implementing a master data management solution.
Read the Story
newell brands success story Learn how a global marketer with a wide product range across brands centralized their product data to improve data quality and simplify their business.
Read the Story
 

What are frequently asked questions about master data management?

1. What is Master Data Management (MDM)?
2. What different types of master data exists?
3. What are core functionalities of Master Data Management (MDM)?
4. What are common Master Data Management (MDM) domains?
5. What are the benefits of Master Data Management (MDM)?
6. What is the purpose of Master Data Management (MDM)?
7. How to implement Master Data Management (MDM)?
8. What are the signs that you need Master Data Management (MDM)?
9. Which industries benefit from Master Data Management (MDM)?
10. Why is Master Data Management (MDM) important?

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