Change is afoot! Or at least I am seeing evidence of maturation in how organizations and commentators view Master Data Management or more specifically Product Master Data, in some articles and blogs I’ve read, and some of the meeting I’ve participated in recently. In my view people in data management, whether they come from an IT or Business perspective, are really starting to grasp the depth and complexity of the challenge that large organizations face when trying to implement Master Data Management or introduce corporate data governance. In particular there seems to be a new focus on the “data supply chain”.
This increased recognition of the data supply chain is important because it brings to the fore a lot of the business process oriented thinking required to successfully tackle some of the key challenges associated with MDM. Like a traditional product supply chain the data supply chain will have key stakeholders milestones, dates, trigger points and statuses that add context and priority to data. The sort of context that is essential in managing the end-to-end process for creating and gathering all of the data attributes that are required, and aligning the different people and roles involved to get the ‘Product Master Data’ operationally ready. Without it organizations will struggle to deliver MDM solutions that are scalable and usable across the organization; across regions, business units and across their Data Supply Chain.