Master Data Management is hardly a new concept. It can be a bit confusing, though. The idea behind MDM is to organize your data so the people who need it can access it without having to go looking for it. More and more businesses are realizing their data is a mess. Messy data hurts the company’s key decision-makers. These individuals need clear, accurate, and easily accessible data in order to make informed decisions. Here’s how they’re doing it.
Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result. This sort of insanity happens regularly in businesses all over the world. There are employees who spend countless hours per week, or maybe even per day, putting together reports. In order to pull these reports together they’re either bouncing from application to application, spreadsheet to spreadsheet, or relying on another person. This is insanity.
How reliable is the data — or better yet — how reliable are the other people compiling this data? Without an MDM strategy you are leaving yourself and, more importantly, your company susceptible to inaccurate data. It’s 2018. Managing your data can be so much easier than updating the same spreadsheet you’ve been using since 1995.
Reporting is often a pain point. It’s a tedious task and the people doing it are usually wondering if anyone is even reading the report anyway. It’s time to let your employees focus on helping your company grow. This means freeing up their time to focus on more important things. Making time to build a detailed MDM strategy allows key decision-makers to have access to what they need when they need it.
Your sales team uses SalesForce. Your operations team uses a spreadsheet to track employee utilization and another software to manage projects. Your accounting department uses QuickBooks. Should I keep going? What tools or software does everyone really need to do their job effectively? This is a critical component of a solid MDM strategy.
MDM is all about bringing together data from different data points. The more organized you are, the more effective this strategy will be. This is also a great opportunity for your entire team to look in the mirror and ask, “Do I really need this program?” or “Why do we need to know this information?” Really, what are some of the KPIs your company needs to know?
Once you’ve figured out what you need to integrate, then you need to figure out who is going to implement the strategy. Are you going to bring in an outside firm? Are you going to try and do it in-house? Who is going to run point on the project?
Developing metrics for successful Master Data Management shouldn’t be done alone. Bringing in an outside firm allows you to bring in someone to analyze your situation and give you advice on how to make things more efficient, automated, and organized. In addition, going outside your organization allows your team to continue working on other things and not on anything outside their expertise. The MDM implementation firm will also guide you through a tried and proven process to ensure a successful, smooth implementation.
Your new MDM strategy will bring together your entire company: sales, marketing, IT, accounting, HR, etc., all key departments in most companies. Knowing this, it’s important to consider everyone when deciding which applications and what data you’ll be bringing together.
It’s also important to define who will need access, how frequently automated reports will go out, and other key considerations for each department. The more you include your team, the easier it will be to get everyone on board. And the more people on board, the smoother this will all go.
All in all, master data management is a huge project. It’s bringing together all of your data, from all of your applications, and getting them to talk to each other. Imagine bringing together 10 different groups of people who speak 10 different languages, putting them all in the same room and asking them to communicate. You would definitely need a strategy. But not just any strategy. You would need a solid, well-planned, “no-page-unturned” strategy.
Trust us. The result will be beautiful.
At Aspirant, we are experts in evaluating, installing, configuring and implementing high-performance data warehouse architectures. We understand the importance of having complete and accurate information available at your fingertips. If this is a pain point for you or your company, reach out. We’d love to explore how we can help.