What is Master Data Management?

Master Data Management (MDM) is a method which is used to determine, define, and manage business critical data. Master Data Management provides single point of view for customer or product data which is mastered during MDM implementation. It contains business data as well as reference data. Master data is also called the Best Version of Truth or Golden copy which supports business decision making.

What are steps for Master Data Management (MDM) implementation?
MDM implementation is a complex process. It requires the involvement of multiple teams: an infrastructure team, a middle-ware team, a database team, and an MDM team. For maintaining quality of data a testing team or quality analyst team also play vital roles. If your organization wants to implement an MDM solution then follow the major steps listed below.

1. Perform Proof of concept (POC) on the MDM product to identify which product is most suitable for your organization's needs. 
2. Requirement gathering is the most critical step during MDM implementation. During this phase the business, the data, and the functional requirements need to be captured. 
3. Prepare the Business Requirement Design (BRD) Artifact. Doing this will help to keep track of the business requirement as well as to keep the MDM project on track and also to avoid creep in requirements. 
4. Prepare Functional Requirement Design (FSD) Artifact. BRD has high level requirements which are converted into functional requirements and are used to prepare the FSD artifact. 
5. Prepare Technical Design Document (TDD) - It is a low level design document and developer can use it during the development phase. 
6. The MDM development team will build the MDM solution based on the TDD document which has traceability back to the FSD and the BRD. 
7. All the Master Data Management components need to be thoroughly tested. The QA team performs the unit and integration testing to make sure all processes work satisfactorily and that the data quality satisfies the acceptance criteria. 
8. After performing all of the above steps, the final step will be the deployment of all components in the production environment and then making MDM applications available to the consumers. 

How to start MDM implementation?
It is essential to know how the Master Data Management works. You can contact the Master Data Management product owner to acquire available documents for implementation and administration. There is a sufficient amount of online material available if you do not want to deal with customer care. Here is the video link which will provide a good start for learning MDM capabilities.

    

What are the Master Data Management Softwares? 

Currently many companies offer Master Data Management softwares. Below is a list of companies which provide MDM products.

1. Informatica MDM
2. Dell Boomi
3. Talend MDM
4. SAS MDM
5. IBM MDM
6. Net Weaver
7. Oracle MDM
8. Omni Gen

How to choose the best MDM product?
Success of your MDM implementation largely depends on which MDM product you select. Each MDM solution provider has great capabilities but base your decision on what functionality your business is seeking. For example, the match and consolidation process is very well achieved in Informatica MDM. You can also refer to Gartner's report about leaders in the Master Data Management world.