Master Data Governance Services

No matter what size your enterprise organisation is, a master data governance service can give you a great baseline process and standard for effective data use, management and control.

But why is master data governance service important? It providers will support you with processes, policies and technologies that ensure the integrity, accuracy and consistency of your master data across all systems and applications. Here, we take a look your options for outstanding master data management.

How to manage asset master data

Your master data is the source at which your most important records are handled and used. Master Data Management (MDM) encompasses both the creation and ongoing maintenance of your master data. According to McKinsey Digital, MDM is the “key to getting more from your data.”

Depending on the technology employed, MDM may focus on a single domain - such as customers, products, or locations - or cover multiple domains. The advantages of multi-domain MDM include a unified data stewardship experience, a reduced technology footprint, the ability to share reference data across domains, lower total ownership costs and a more cohesive digital network.

Yet even though it relates to your digital records and information, Master Data Management (MDM) is not solely a technological issue. Often, significant changes to your business processes are necessary to ensure you have a clean set of data and records available. Many of the most challenging MDM problems are related to your process, procedures and people, rather than your software.

Investing considerable time, money and effort into establishing a clean and consistent set of master data is ineffective unless the solution includes tools and processes to keep your clean and consistent as it evolves and grows.

 

 

 

When to use master data governance services

Master Data Management is the process of creating, monitoring and maintaining the quality of master data, including accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness and uniqueness. A master data governance service provider can help you deploy a tool that will help you properly manage your records, as well as supporting you with other data activities and processes so that you can manage your data effectively moving forward.

Your master data governance service provider will help you:

  • Consolidate all of your data from across the systems in which is resides
  • Eliminate messy and duplicate data
  • Get benefits from organised and workable data and records
  • Create improvements that will benefit your customers

Actions of master data management

By partnering with a quality master data governance service provider, you will be able to improve decision-making, enhance operational efficiency and drive better business outcomes through the creation of your own set of reliable and trustworthy master data.

Master data governance activities that your service partner can carry out include:

  • Data stewardship: establishing roles and responsibilities for data stewardship, where designated individuals or teams oversee the management of master data, ensuring adherence to governance standards and practices.
  • Data standardisation: creating and enforcing standards for data entry, format and definitions to ensure uniformity across different systems and departments.
  • Data lifecycle management: developing protocols for managing the entire lifecycle of master data, from creation and storage to archiving and deletion, to ensure that data remains relevant and accurate over time.
  • Policy development: establishing governance frameworks that outline policies, procedures, and guidelines for managing master data. This includes new rules for data access, security and privacy.
  • Change management: implementing processes to manage and communicate changes to master data, including updates, corrections, and data migration, while ensuring minimal disruption to operations.
  • Compliance and security: ensuring master data governance adheres to regulatory requirements and industry standards, while also protecting sensitive data from unauthorised access and breaches.
  • Integration and collaboration: facilitating collaboration between different departments and systems to maintain a single source of truth for master data, supporting integration efforts and data sharing.

Data health assessment and reporting

Typically, your MDM service provider will begin their work with an assessment of your data sets and records. A data health assessment provides a comprehensive evaluation of the quality and integrity of your data. It often reveals several key aspects, including:

  • Data quality: identifying issues related to accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness of the data. This helps to understand how trustworthy the data is for decision-making.
  • Data completeness: evaluating whether all necessary data fields are populated and whether there are missing values that could impact analyses or operations.
  • Data consistency: assessing and checking for discrepancies across various data sources. This includes examining whether the same data is recorded in the same way in different systems, because duplicate records can cause you problems later on.
  • Data accuracy: determining if the data reflects the real-world conditions it is supposed to represent. This involves identifying errors and verifying data against trusted sources.
  • Data duplication: identifying duplicate records, which can cause confusion and inefficiencies in operations. This activity also highlights the extent of data redundancy across systems.
  • Data usability: evaluating how easily the data can be accessed, understood and handled by your users. This may include examining the accessibility of data and the quality of documentation.
  • Compliance and security: assessing whether the data management practices are compliant with relevant regulations and standards, as well as whether sensitive data is adequately protected.
  • Data lifecycle management: assessing may reveal how well you are managing data throughout its lifecycle, from creation to archiving or deletion.
  • Impact on business processes: identifying areas where poor data quality may be affecting business operations, decision-making, and overall efficiency.

A data health assessment often concludes with actionable insights and recommendations for enhancing data quality, implementing better data governance practices and addressing identified issues. By conducting a data health assessment, organisations can gain valuable insights into the state of their data, which can inform strategies for improvement and enhance overall data governance and management efforts.

Systems and solutions for master data governance

There are lots of MDM systems out there, and different MDM service partners will recommend different ones. That’s because these tools vary in features and capabilities, catering to different organisational needs and data environments.

It pays to do your research, read reviews and most importantly, find a reputable partner to support you. Sites like Australian Capterra can help you become familiar with the options, but here is a quick summary of some of the most common MDM systems on the market:

  • Informatica Master Data Management: a comprehensive MDM solution that provides data integration, quality, and governance features.
  • SAP Master Data Governance: a tool that enables users to manage and govern master data effectively within SAP environments.
  • Oracle Master Data Management: which offers a suite of MDM applications that allow organisations to consolidate and manage diverse data across their systems.
  • IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management: providing a range of MDM solutions with the intent of achieving a single view of data.
  • Reltio Cloud: a cloud-based MDM solution that combines data management, data quality, and advanced analytics.
  • Ataccama ONE: A data management platform that includes MDM capabilities along with data quality and governance features.
  • Stibo Systems MDM: offering a collaborative approach to managing master data across various domains.
  • Profisee: a flexible MDM platform that integrates easily with existing systems and provides robust data management functionalities.
  • Microsoft Dynamics 360: while primarily a CRM and ERP system, it includes MDM features for managing customer and product data.
  • SAS Data Management: providing tools for data integration and MDM, allowing businesses to create a cohesive data environment.
  • Talend Master Data Management: an open-source solution that allows for the integration and governance of master data across multiple systems.
  • Pimcore: we use Pimcore to help enterprise organisations solve their data dilemmas and to sort and processes valuable corporate information.

Stimulus for master data management services

Our approach to data governance focuses on simplifying the complex landscape of data governance. We collaborate with you to make data governance accessible and achievable, ensuring that it delivers tangible value in manageable phases.

For a data governance program to succeed, it must be realistic - aligning with your needs, size, urgency, maturity and capabilities. Your data governance framework should complement your data strategy, ensuring that it integrates seamlessly into day-to-day operations and is designed to scale with evolving requirements.

Data governance should be viewed as an ongoing investment rather than a project with defined start and end dates. We advocate for an approach that delivers incremental value and encourages growth. As data governance efforts expand and more individuals take on governance responsibilities, each new element should be embedded and formally incorporated into your program.

Data governance is not something you can simply download and switch on. Data governance takes planning and coordination, as well as a participatory approach from your whole team.

Establishing the right people and processes is essential and provides immediate benefits, well before any technology implementation. When it comes time to invest in tools, we carefully assess your existing technologies and utilities that can support data governance, ensuring that any new technology is deliberately implemented to avoid unnecessary spending.

We will ensure that your data governance program is designed for successful adoption. By assessing your organisational readiness, we will identify gaps in your processes and teams, and then develop a comprehensive enablement plan. Our expertise encompasses education and training, change management, policies and procedures, and all facets of organisational readiness.

Metadata and master data management services

We will assist you in assigning meaning and definitions to all your organisation's data assets by selecting and implementing data governance tools and utilities such as a data glossary, data dictionary, data catalogue, and data lineage. Based on your analytics maturity, we will help you identify which assets are essential and develop a practical plan for their creation and upkeep. In addition to establishing the processes, standards, and policies necessary for effective data governance throughout all stages of the data lifecycle, we specialise in master data management to ensure that your organisation’s most critical data is centralised and trustworthy.

When you invest in data governance, it's essential to ensure that your efforts lead to more strategic decisions backed by higher-quality data. We will collaborate with you to set data quality rules, define success criteria, implement the necessary technology, and automate your processes. Additionally, we design data quality programs that create company-wide rules and procedures to guarantee reliable data.

Contact us to learn more about how a combined effort on master data governance will give you a firm foundation for information management, and create opportunity for you to grow and innovate.

 

Related questions

What activities will my master data management service provider carry out?

Your data governance specialists will carry out a variety of activities, and roles. They will be the ones define the requirements and solutions for data management; they will set up the framework and standards. They will help you establish the standards for data management processes and give you guidance about how to support staff to adhere to these guidelines. They will be there as your MDM solution is deployed, checking for smooth and efficient integration and processing.

They also maintain a feedback loop with the MDM software to ensure it operates as intended. This feedback loop may include metrics such as:

  • The time it takes to carry out specific actions, like onboarding a new customer, or product handling and dispatch
  • Whether data handling and delivery processes are improving
  • Identification of any areas experiencing delays and the reasons behind them
  • The effectiveness of data matching processes
  • Number of duplicate records, or records with errors that are identified
  • The number of business rules failing from a data quality standpoint

You will also have support from data administrators. These folk are the IT professionals responsible for configuring and setting up the MDM solution. They will support you with fixing, cleaning and managing data within the solution.

Who are the internal stakeholders of an external data service?

In addition to the activities delivered by your third party master data governance supplier, a critical factor for the success of an MDM project is the active commitment of key stakeholders. These stakeholders typically encompass representatives from both business and IT sectors. Within your own organisation, you might appoint active stakeholder roles such as:

  • Business or IT Executive Sponsor
  • IT Project Lead
  • Subject matter experts from the affected lines of business
  • Data stewards
  • Internal IT delivery team

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