What Makes a Leading Master Data Management (MDM) Solution?

In large organizations, customer data resides in many databases and applications. Because the systems store data in inconsistent and even incompatible ways, finding all the records about a customer, then uniting them to create a full picture of the customer, is very difficult. There are multiple identifiers, transpositions, misspellings, nicknames, aliases, address inconsistencies, missing data and other problems to overcome. In addition, the data in each of these disparate systems is often dirty or out-of-date, and there are duplicate and fragmented records for many customers.

A complete master data management (MDM) solution must include:

• Data integrity – This includes the ability to understand the data quality issues within each customer record, and the ability to fix that data, enhance it and keep it clean. Doing this requires more than just periodically sending data out so its address information can be checked against a master list, or using SQL statements to find obvious duplicate records. It requires an understanding of the processes related to establishing and maintaining data integrity, and the technology to manage data quality continuously.
• Data integration – At the core of a master data management solution that provides a trusted system of record for each customer, household, organization or other entity on demand is the ability to accurately identify the relevant duplicate and fragmented records and link them – within as well as across all data sources. The solution must have the ability to instantly find and accurately link records in batch and real time, regardless of the volume of data. There is often a debate as to whether the right approach to master data management is to integrate data physically or virtually. Too often, this question arises because of a limited awareness of what is possible or because of organizational politics. But the question is legitimate, as there are times when the specifics of the application and what the business wants to accomplish can make one approach or the other the best answer. A "hybrid" solution — one that enables either approach — gives your organization the flexibility you need to meet your specific requirements.
• Integration with operational systems – In order to prevent errors at the point of entry, help keep the data clean over time and give front-line personnel and back office systems a trusted, single view of the customer, integration is key. A master data management solution must support all of your systems today, from your oldest legacy system to your message bus to your Service Oriented Architecture environment.
• Information delivery – Data integrity cleans the data, then data integration ties it together. Information delivery makes trusted data available on-demand, in a variety of forms and formats, to the people who need it to gain new insights and make important decisions. Whether it is an ad hoc search for data about a customer across systems, monitoring activity with business intelligence, or spotting patterns and trends with data mining, information delivery is an essential part of realizing the value of your investment in master data management solution.

A true master data management solution provides real and measurable value to organizations:

• Enables customer-focused business strategies and the on-demand enterprise
• Consolidates and instantly finds all the data, accounts and transactions for a specific customer, household, or organization across your enterprise, which can help you reduce marketing expenses, assess credit risk, leverage existing customer relationships across lines of business, and lower the costs of resolving customer issues
• Identifies people across systems and sources, including third-party lists, even if they use nicknames or aliases. This helps you improve customer service and comply with regulations such as "do not call," the USA PATRIOT Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley and others
• Improves the agility and responsiveness of IT by making new system implementation faster and less risky.
• Delivers competitive advantage through new and improved business insight

Initiate Systems provides a market-leading master data management solution that has delivered outstanding results to customers in many industries, including healthcare, banking, communications, gaming, hospitality, insurance, public sector and retail.