Mastering data management

I read your recent article on MDM (IT chiefs wake up to the benefits of master data management) with great interest.

MDM undoubtedly seems like a complex issue to many IT teams in large organisations, but to others – predominantly in retail, from our experience – it is a simple, powerful concept. Good MDM is about having one view of your data, and not having to refer to many different systems that contain different information and analysis methods. For example, imagine having to run a large chain of stores with different – and frequently conflicting – figures on replenishment and data on the supply chain.

On a small scale, local knowledge and systems may allow companies to “get by”, but beyond a certain point, a centralised, co-ordinated approach is necessary.

Systems today are sufficiently powerful to provide a centralised but locally sensitive view on the world, providing consistency but still able to respond to specific variations. This balance of power, agility, flexibility and accuracy is simply not possible in an organisation that has many different versions of “the truth”, and, in today's fast-moving world, MDM is essential if organisations are to be profitable.

The complexity of data management is increasing as we depend on our IT systems for almost everything, but IT teams must not underestimate the importance of looking beyond jargon and embracing the old mantra of “thinking global, acting local”.

Donal Mac Daid, Aldata