At this point, most companies know that Master Data Management (MDM) helps organizations manage data. But many don’t grasp the breadth of problems MDM can solve — or they aren’t using their platform to its fullest potential.
At Pivotree, our experience providing MDM implementation and support to many companies and industries gives us a unique perspective. Our team has applied MDM in creative, atypical ways to help our clients get to new levels of ROI.
This blog series will share real-world use cases that highlight seven things you may not know MDM could do.
1) Use a “Silver Record” to Support Your Golden Record
Creating a golden record to maintain a single view of trusted master data is a common concept in MDM. But you may not be familiar with the concept of a “silver record,” i.e., using automation to build your golden record.
What is a Silver Record?
When building a golden record, the key question is, “What record do the users modify?” The conventional process is for users to modify data directly in the golden record. For customer data that isn’t shared outside the company, this works great. If you have all of your customer’s information — and it’s accurate and up-to-date — that’s all you need.
But for the product domain, you also need to enhance your records with marketing data (like descriptions, attributes, and digital assets) to sell your products effectively. However, during this enhancement phase, you still want to control the golden record to ensure the data used to enhance the record fits your data quality standards.
Pivotree found a solution to this dilemma. We created a “silver record” inside the MDM platform where users can enhance records, which can then be merged into the golden record. This concept allows users to enter certain portions of data into the silver record; then, based on automated rules we establish, that data gets promoted to the golden record — whether from internal or external sources. The silver record gives companies greater traceability when creating the golden record. This way, you can optimize your product data golden record for selling while using automation to maintain visibility and data quality.
2) Creating Spec Sheets with One Click
In certain industries, spec sheets are an essential tool. Research & Development and Product Management teams use them to communicate important information across the organization and out to partners. For instance, in the food and beverage space, companies use spec sheets to send vital product specifications — like ingredients, nutritional information, and allergen information — to retailers who need to know about the products they have on their shelves.
The problem with spec sheets is that they are typically a huge pain to create. The arduous process involves extracting data, sending it to a graphic artist, having the graphic artist design it, and printing it or sending it. On top of being a hassle, the process can take days or weeks and is prone to errors.
To solve this challenge, we’ve empowered users to create spec sheets with one click.
When we create this solution for clients, teams who don’t typically use MDM (like R&D and Product Management) can access the system, find a product, and dynamically create a spec sheet on the fly with one click. This solution introduces MDM to a whole new group of users, streamlines an essential process, and enables efficiencies across internal and partner networks.
3) Incorporating Multiple Banners within a Single MDM
Many companies have multiple “banners” for which they need to manage data. These banners typically operate independently, whether they are various brands under the same parent company or regional business units. The traditional MDM philosophy is to combine the data from multiple banners and bring it under one data model.
But occasionally, our assessment of an organization determines that banners need to remain separate and independent. In cases like this, we don’t actually have to combine the banners or perform two separate MDM implementations. We’re able to incorporate multiple banners with completely separate data models into a single MDM.
By using this process, we can:
- Leverage commonalities to benefit each banner.
- Maintain each banner’s independence.
- Grant rights and privileges separately to each banner.
- Use different data governance and data quality models for each banner.
By envisioning beyond the traditional MDM philosophy, we’re able to provide a valuable solution that helps companies with multiple banners reap the benefits of accessing collective data while not sacrificing what makes each banner unique.
More to Come!
With the right guidance and expertise, companies can think bigger about the applications of MDM. In the next blog in the series, we’ll dive into the last four unconventional solutions MDM can provide. Stay tuned!
Pivotree works with companies to maximize their MDM investment. If you’re not happy with the current state of your MDM (or want the fastest ROI from an upcoming implementation), our expertise with MDM platforms and processes can show the way. To discuss how our team can optimize your MDM ROI, contact us here, and one of our MDM experts will be in touch.