Master Data Management : what, why and how part 1

                                          Today the biggest pain point experienced by organizations  has been in regards to inconsistent reporting, non-compliance with regulatory framework. These problems along with a view that Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), and Software as a Service (SaaS) can provide solutions to these problems  has prompted a great deal of interest in Master Data Management (MDM) and master data maintenance process. This series seeks to explain what MDM is, why it is important, and how to manage it, while identifying some of the key MDM management patterns and best practices that are emerging to be the best.

What Is Master Data Management?

For purposes of this series, we define Master Data Management (MDM) as the technology, tools, and processes required to create and maintain consistency and accuracy in your master data. There are a couple of points to be noted in this definition. One of them is that MDM is not just a technological problem. In many cases, fundamental changes to business processes requires changes to be done to maintain clean master data, and some of the most difficult MDM issues are more political than technical. The second thing to note is that MDM includes both creating and maintaining master data. Investing a lot of time, money, and effort in creating a clean, consistent set of master data is a wasted effort unless the solution includes tools and processes to keep the master data clean and consistent as it is updated and expanded.

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