Master Data Management - is it a mystery?
Master Data Management may sound like an old news. Enterprises have bought multiple MDM software and have implemented successfully in some respect. But the daunting fact remains, how is it being used? Is it one of the several applications on the side or is it really at the center of the data universe?
Changes to business models, talent attrition, leadership changes, and M&As are the norm. Adapting to these changes mean having the ability to pivot as business climate changes. Master Data is at the center of maintaining the data eco system balance during these changes. Knowing your customers, suppliers, products, geographies, and managing external data is key for any business to be agile. Curiously many successful MDM implementation derails as time goes by, compounded by the ever changing business conditions.
Why is it so hard to implement and maintain Master Data? The technology has been around for over a decade and there is talent pool available for implementation. In most cases 3 major themes contributes to the deterioration of Master Data Management.
o Project mentality
o IT managed MDM project
o Lack of Business ownership
Many companies start off the MDM implementation with good intentions adapting best practices for Data Governance and MDM tool implementation. The business participates enthusiastically until it is implemented. Governance becomes just another meeting after implementation and business participation dwindles, causing slow degradation of MDM usage and quality. MDM is not a project; it is a business capability.
In some instances, the Governance run by IT and the business participation is spotty and hard to manage which spells disaster from the get go. Even IT manages a decent implementation, maintaining MDM for the long haul is impossible. MDM is not an IT project; it is a business process initiative.
Another major issue is lack of business ownership of data. Governance becomes just a meeting place if individual business stakeholders own the appropriate data. One size fits all is not possible as finance may classify and group differently from Product team or Sales team. Maintaining multiple views and capturing the right attributes to serve different user audience is possible only if those business owners own the data from creation to purging. MDM is not just an application maintained by IT, it is the foundation for managing data as an asset.
Most of these challenges stems from the fact that the organization has not made the shift to Data Driven business culture. Making this transformational shift has to be top down as well as bottom up. Legacy culture of labor intensive manual data management, massaging data using Excel and siloed reporting makes it harder to make the transition. Instilling Data Driven culture means IT owns the systems but the business takes ownership of data.
Principal Sales Engineer, Precisely | SAP Automation Solutions
6yThat is very much on point, I enjoyed reading your perspective. Thanks for sharing
Great article Shankar. In my view, the key to business involvement and ownership is getting them to understand that the end result will make their lives easier.
Director IT - Master Data Management & Data Analytics
8yOf-course, it is always people, process, technology ... in that order.
PhD, PhD, MBA, MS-ITM, LEAN/Six Sigma, QM-CPR, Civil Engineer
8yI agree Shankar. Yet, in my opinion, another problem to the 3 listed in the article is the lack of professionals educated in both IT and business. IT employees seldom trully understand business concepts. Similarly, business employee rarely comprehend IT challenges and time/budger related issues involved in process reengineering. The solution is Business Analysts, a "broker" between the two fields of knowledge. There are many in Analyst job positions, yet not qualified for the right meaning of Business Analyst. Organizations should understand this problem and provide with a budged for training/education and potential temporary job rotation to strengthen the interdeparmental collaboration and the understanding of problems across the entire organization. Good post!