What does Bernie Madoff have to do with MDM?

Getting master data facts straight is hard

This compelling real life list gives us a chance to do some explaining about "master data management" aka MDM. MDM is a hot topic these days. Turns out really understanding who you do business with is even more important when there’s less business being done and more risk that the business you’ve already written may not hold up.

Managing master data is about maintaining a consistent set of information about people and things in the real world. Customers and other parties related to financial accounts is a good example of a master data domain. It’s shared by and important to all facets of your business. Across brand, geography and function a complete understanding of the customer relationship is critical to achieving the goals of your business. That’s why "single view" is another term you hear a lot on this topic. Turns out there’s not just one view, but many views from different business angles that need to be drawn from a consistently managed set of facts.

Getting the facts straight is no simple task. The challenge is master data is already deeply embedded in databases all over the enterprise without any consistent definition or management process. That makes it very hard to reconcile, understand and act on to serve the best interests of your business or your customers.