Master data management on the increase

Gartner report indicates worldwide master data management software revenue will reach $1.5bn in 2010

Global revenue for master data management (MDM) software has increased 14 per cent on 2009 figures according to a recent report from analyst firm Gartner.

The report, Master Data Management Is Important in a Tough Economy, and More Important in Growth, argued that the market would reach $1.5bn (£970m) in 2010.

Master data management helps offer a single, complete view of all master data, and provides information essential to business operations by helping to contribute to essential strategies and processes.

"Today, most organisations juggle multiple sets of business and data applications across corporate, regional and local systems," said John Radcliffe, research vice president at Gartner.

"At the same time, customers demand faster and more complex responses from organisations, leading to an inconsistency that hinders the organisation's ability to measure and move within the market," he added.

"With MDM, CIOs can create a unified view of existing data, leading to greater enterprise agility, simplified integration and, ultimately, improved profitability".

Gartner predicts that from 2009 through to 2014, despite a global recession, MDM software markets will grow 18 per cent, from $1.3bn to $2.9bn.

Due to this rapid growth of the MDM market, skilled MDM resources are going to be in great demand among software and service providers. This could result in end-user organisations struggling to sufficiently resource their MDM programs.

Presently MDM is typically implemented on premise, largely due to software providers not having created specific MDM-as-a-service products that are fit for the task, with organisations reluctant to place important data outside their managed security.

However, this is set to change as Gartner predicts that by 2015 10 per cent of packaged MDM implementations will be delivered as software as a service in the public cloud. Gartner advises companies to consider this move if they do not have skills in house and if a subscription model is more suitable to the business.

Further to this, Gartner predicts that 66 per cent of organisations that initiate an MDM program through 2012 will struggle to get the business on board and demonstrate the business value of it. This will be particularly true if there are no business process orientated metrics to measure success.

"It's not just an IT project. The business needs to take responsibility and be accountable for master data governance and stewardship," said Radcliffe.

"Unless organisations take a holistic, business driven approach to MDM, addressing governance and metrics requirements in particular, they risk their MDM programs failing," he added.

"Internal politics won't be brought under control without a governance framework, and without a metrics structure, there will be no way of objectively defining what success looks like or measuring whether or not it has been achieved".