Pace your Master Data Management Strategy

Posted by admin

March 18, 2009

by Marcus Willington

MDM will not solve your data management issues right away. It is not a magic solution. It is an ongoing process that needs to be managed by a team. You cannot have everyone working independently and expect to be successful with Master Data Management.

Master Data Management helps companies identify what is critical for running their business successfully. It makes sense that your most critical information should have the most stringent controls around it. When you begin MDM, the goal is to put tight controls, processes, and procedures around the data most important to the company.

Starting with the basics is the best way to get started on an effective Master Data Management strategy. Think about what data your company could not live without. If it was all whipped out by a lost server, what data would you first seek to try to rebuild?

If the data you decide on is order data, then you’ll need to have everyone in the organization agree that order data is what is in scope, and nothing else. You’ll likely then focus on order numbers, order dates, products ordered, etc.

Now that the scope is locked down, all stakeholders will need to buckle down and commit resources to the work that is necessary to be successful. Team members will need to research the critical data elements. They will need to determine how they are used across the organization, what definitions they take on, who owns or manages them who changes them, etc.

Once you have answered these questions, begin to organize the data and assign tasks for cleaning up any identified issues. This is a basic start for Master Data Management

About the Author:

If you want to become a Pro at Pro Data Management, vist Marcus Willington’s Master Data Management (MDM) site for information, reviews, and opinions. It is critical that, to be successful at MDM, you stay up-to-date with what happens in the industry.

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