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Shifting Towards Multidomain MDM Software
By Mikael Lyngso, Chief Executive Officer, Stibo Systems, Aarhus, Denmark and Dan Power, Founder and President, Hub Designs, Hingham, MA
formats for many years. But the tech- nology has evolved a great deal in the last ten years. As a result, most of the newer MDM platforms have mul- tiple-domain capabilities. In fact, most manufacturers of MDM soft- ware are gradually shifting in that direction. Master data is the lifeblood of
M
most manufacturing companies. Af- ter all, those companies can’t conduct their day-to-day business without ba- sic records on customers, products, suppliers, employees, locations, as- sets, and additional details. Across virtually every industry, the volume of operational information is rising exponentially in both size and com- plexity, and organizations are strug- gling to keep pace.
aster-domain-management (MDM) software was only available in single-domain
To make matters worse, in most
organizations such operational infor- mation is duplicated and scattered across multiple systems and applica- tions. As it evolves independently on
In fact, most transactional data
is linked in some way to master data. As a result, missing data, low-quality information, and untrustworthy or inaccurate records have an impact on
Across virtually every industry, the volume of operational information is rising exponentially in both size and com- plexity, and organizations are struggling to keep
pace....Multidomain MDM is a software solution that manages multiple types of master data in one repository.
these different systems, the data be- comes subject to errors and can pre- vent decision-makers from maintain- ing a unified view of operational in- telligence. The disparate information also prevents customers from getting the accurate and timely information they need to make purchasing deci- sions.
revenue, productivity, costs, compli- ance, agility and decision-making. Therefore, proactively managing this master-level information as it flows through the organization is essential for improving business performance.
Comparing Two Approaches Multidomain MDM is a soft-
ware solution that manages multiple types of master data in one reposito- ry. For single-domain MDM ap- proaches, each major type of master data (such as customer data, product information, supplier records, etc.) has its own unique data store and business logic. Common sense might indicate
that when trying to build a “single version of the truth,” a multidomain MDM approach would get there faster. If pulling together related master data from different parts of the company, it’s simpler and less ex- pensive to store the “golden records” related to customers, products, sup- pliers, employees, assets, and loca- tions — the “people, places, and things” of master data” — in one seamless technology stack. But that’s not how the MDM in-
dustry evolved. The first implemen- tations of master data management were known as “Customer Data Inte- gration” (CDI), which dealt with cus- tomer data, and “Product Informa- tion Management” (PIM), which con- cerned product data. Some workers still refer to these older terms for MDM tools as CDI and PIM.
MDM Software Market The MDM software industry is
divided into categories and includes mega-vendors, best-of breed compa- nies, and startup companies. For first-time buyers of MDM solutions, the vendor selection process can be daunting. While the concept of MDM is not new, it’s a rapidly evolving marketplace that has become crowd- ed with “me-too” applications and a blur of sameness when it comes to marketing messages and positioning. A handful of MDM vendors make
similar promises and claim compara- ble feature sets, but it is important to understand that there are difference in MDM approaches. For instance, single-domain
MDM solutions tend to be from the mega-vendors while multidomain MDM solutions are typically from the other categories of suppliers. The reason for this is that the larger ven- dors started developing their solu- tions prior to 2004. They have since acquired other companies with dif- ferent MDM technologies, and are slowly integrating them. While the larger vendors are
gradually shifting to more of an em- phasis on multidomain MDM, the smaller vendors have generally de- signed multidomain capability into their first offerings, or have pivoted from being a CDI or PIM provider to offering multidomain MDM solutions.
Benefits of Multidomain MDM Proactively managing opera-
tional information as it flows through a business requires a full-cycle, mul- tidomain approach. Integrating all op- erating and multichannel units and linking all types of information togeth- er into one management platform helps manufacturing executives re- ceive accurate information as it devel- ops. As a result, company executives receive the information they need to impact revenue, lower operational costs, reduce risks, and enhance com- pany manufacturing agility. The main benefits of multido-
main MDM tools are the following. l
single-domain MDM software tools, since the platform can be imple- mented in a single instance. The use of multidomain MDM software also avoids the redundant cost, training and maintenance that result from managing numerous data silos.
They are more cost-effective than l They are easier to maintain, with
a simpler architecture, unified gov- ernance, and better analytics than single-domain MDM tools. In con- trast, single data silos act as barri- ers to unified definitions, standard handling of common reference data, and unified governance practices, and processes that allow correlating critical information.
l Multidomain MDM tools can
proactively manage operational in- formation as it flows through the business, yielding cross-functional collaboration and overall perform- ance improvements. The worst out- come of using a single-domain MDM application is that it can defeat the
Continued on page 20
August, 2014
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