Clients want an easy life, for business that means Master Data Management (MDM)

Here’s an explanation of it in human terms.

Today, data is the biggest business in town. Not keeping up means putting your business at risk.

Clients want things to be easy.

They engage through web browsers and mobile phones. With a quick tap of a button their data is processed, an algorithm fires, and they get what they want. Or get told why not, fast.

In this fast paced diet, the key ingredient is data.

You need to get it, validate it, and (most importantly) use it to create the results your clients want.

Here’s where the pain comes in.

Businesses have a lot of systems to deliver products and services. And each system has its own database, describing the data in its own way.

If there is not a common understanding of that data across systems, then your business is not able to process data fast. Here’s where Master Data Management comes in. I’m not saying it’s the most well named data management technique.

It’s not.

But it’s important to know what it is.

It’s about the data that your systems have in common.

The Human Way to Look at it

What do you like to do when you have something in common with someone else?

You like to chat to them, of course!

You want to know what they know, and compare it against what you know.

In other words you syncronise your database with theirs, and they do the same.

After a good conversation, you both walk away having learned something new. If it was a really good one, you’ll both be able to use new information to better achieve your personal goals.

Data has been changed in both of your databases — that icky place you keep data in your mind.

So now you’ve both learned something new that you can use to get better results.

The Finer Details of Master Data

When describing exactly what Master Data is, it’s usually better to start by saying what it isn’t.

Master Data isn’t transaction data or activity data, and it isn’t metadata.

It is the data of the things that need to come together for a transaction to happen.

Data like:

• Client Data
• Product Data
• Supplier Data

In fact 95% of the real-world use cases for Master Data Management (MDM) I speak to people about are for client or product data.

The majority of that 95% is managing client data. And the remaining 5% is about supplier data.

When your systems have data in common, MDM helps them to talk, reach an understanding of the truth by creating a golden record, and finally (when needed) to syncronise their own databases with that record.

How do you think about Master Data Management?

Let me know in the comments!