Data is Power, and MDM Help Harness That Power

Data is Power, and MDM Help Harness That Power – Data is arguably the most powerful asset available to any modern business, but it can only reach its full potential when it’s both accurate and current. An enterprise that wants to stay relevant and competitive in the modern world has to embrace digital transformation, and a big part of that is learning how to properly monetize your data. Software integrations and proper data analytics can provide insights that help you significantly boost business processes and much more.

When you rely on legacy systems, all of your data sets are trapped in disparate data silos. In order to share data between these systems, you would have to rely on a manual transfer—a process that’s both time-consuming and prone to human error. Not only would you be unable to guarantee good data quality, but the data would be out of date by the time you got it anyway. Modern enterprises are dependent upon big data, and it arrives at a volume and velocity that traditional means can no longer handle.

You need to be able to share data between all your applications via full integrations, and you need a way to collect that shared data in a single source of truth. This shared data is called master data, and it can help you take your organization to new heights. Here’s everything you need to know about master data management solutions.

Master Data Defined

Master data is a key asset for data organization and data governance, along with metadata and reference data. Proper master data management (MDM) requires looking at it from a few different perspectives. From a business operations perspective, master data is a collection of transaction data shared between systems. If a customer orders a product from your online store, for example, multiple data sets are updated. For starters, that item’s classification will change from “for sale” to “sold.” The customer, product, and location data involved in the transaction will all be stored for future analysis as well.

From an analytics standpoint, master data makes it far easier to collect and track data, and a good MDM solution can constantly analyze new data in real-time, so the information pool you’re working with is always accurate and current. Data governance professionals also utilize master data to set controls, such as access privileges or privacy settings, for sensitive data.

Common MDM Applications

Master data management has a wide variety of applications, from improving workflows to gaining new insights for competitive advantages. Here are just a few of the most useful.

Supply Chain Optimization:

A business supply chain is made up of many complex and moving parts, and it’s common for them to experience bottlenecks or slowdowns. With great data integrity and analytics solutions, you can find ways to improve your supply chain with a single platform. With real-time data updates, you’ll be alerted when an item is close to being out of stock, so you can be proactive about inventory management. You can also use IoT-enabled devices and sensors aided by machine learning, like trackers with GeoLocation data, to plan better routes for your fleets. It’s even possible for sensors to detect things like unusual temperatures or movement on the manufacturing floor, promoting greater safety.

Customer Service:

If there’s one resource your business has that’s even more important than data, it’s customers. MDM software makes it easy for you to improve the customer experience by instantly pulling customer data from your CRM system to create more personalized interactions. Immediate access to customer demographics and purchasing history also makes it easier for you to customize products to customer needs in the future. You can even use a combination of historical data and current customer data to make predictions about future market trends for a competitive advantage.

Once you get some practice with data management, you’ll likely start coming up with your own solutions to improve business processes as well. MDM gives you the power to reshape your enterprise as you see fit.