Best Practices in MDM, OAUG COLLABORATE 09

Best Practices in Master Data Management and Data Governance May 5, 2009 Dan Power, Hub Solution Designs, Inc. > Hub Solution Designs

MDM can be tough (especially in this economy) but …
“ When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Joseph P. Kennedy
MDM is definitely worth it – you can save your company a lot of money, make compliance easier, even increase revenue …

Executive Summary
In today’s discussion, we will:
help you better understand Master Data Management (MDM) and data governance
present some useful MDM and data governance best practices
talk about what works and what doesn’t
cover the importance of a holistic approach
discuss how to get the political aspects right

Speaker’s Background
Founder of Hub Solution Designs, a consulting firm that specializes in Master Data Management & data governance
Previously, was general manager for D&B’s strategic alliance with Oracle
Have worked with Oracle's enterprise applications since 1995
Write a widely-read blog and newsletter, as well as a column for Information Management magazine
Regularly advise clients on developing & implementing high impact MDM and data governance strategies

So what is Master Data Management?
My definition
MDM is a set of disciplines, processes and technologies
for ensuring the accuracy, completeness, timeliness and consistency
of multiple domains of enterprise data - across applications, systems and databases , and
across multiple business processes, functional areas, organizations, geographies and channels

What is MDM? (continued)
Some definitions from Gartner
Master Data: consistent, official set of identifiers, attributes and hierarchies for core entities
Master Data Management (MDM): a discipline used by business and IT to ensure uniformity, accuracy, stewardship and accountability of the organization's shared master data assets
Customer Data Integration (CDI): since 2003, the term has been used by software vendors. CDI = MDM for Customer Data.
Product Information Management (PIM): an accurate and single view of the product. PIM = MDM for Product Data.

What is MDM? (continued)
Definitions from The MDM Institute:
Master Data Management: “The authoritative, reliable foundation for data used across many applications & constituencies with the goal to provide a single view of the truth no matter where it lies.”
Data Governance: “Formal orchestration of people, process, & technology to enable an organization to leverage data as an enterprise asset.”

E-Business Suite vs. Customer Data Hub
If you have E-Business Suite , you have the underlying foundation of Customer Data Hub (the Trading Community Architecture or TCA) and the Customers Online “front end” to the TCA Registry of parties and accounts
There are some differences in the “embedded Hub” vs. a separate Hub instance but a lot of the MDM best practices we’ll discuss today still apply
Ironically, lots of EBS sites use TCA & Customers Online very little or not at all

MDM 101 – Five essential elements
The MDM Hub itself
There are three major types:
Registry Hub (stores only the identity information and foreign keys required for matching in the hub)
Persistent or Transactional Hub (stores all of the critical data from each source system into the central hub)
Coexistence or Hybrid Hub (uses a mix of both styles)

Data integration or middleware
Important to be able to synchronize data into and out of the hub
Doesn’t have to be real-time
Whole point is to build a “Single Source of Truth” for a given domain
So having out-of-date information in your hub – or not synchronizing data quality improvements back to your source systems – can defeat the whole purpose of the program

Data Quality
Most companies quickly realize that they’re starting off with a much lower level of data quality than they expected
So a robust data quality tool can be vital in standardizing and correcting data, plus supplying missing information
A good data quality tool can make the difference between a failed project and a successful project Profile early and profile often!

External Content (also known as enrichment)
Having worked for D&B, I constantly saw the value of providing information you don’t already have
It could be something as straightforward as SIC codes, or as complex as corporate family trees and credit ratings
When you “don’t know what you don’t know”, working with an external content provider can be a big help

Data Governance
This is actually the most important
Without the people & processes around your hub, the technology will (at best) be “a solution in search of a problem”
The business won’t accept the solution unless they’re driving it, and resolving difficult questions of ownership or quality is going to take some type of cross-functional group, with an executive sponsor, business data stewards, IT support, etc.
Bringing together all of these elements is hard enough – don’t try to do it without a data governance organization Courtesy: Rhapsody Technologies, Inc.

Stages in Typical MDM Lifecycle
Education, Strategy and Evaluation
Education, Vision and Strategy
Business Case and ROI Analysis
Technology Evaluation
Execution
Definition / Planning
Design
Development
Deployment
Ongoing Data Governance & Stewardship (in parallel with 1 & 2)
Defining Metrics
Creating Organization
Developing Governance Processes

Why Does All This Matter?
So why are companies doing MDM initiatives?
Most frequently, it’s to solve a specific business problem
Certain industries have had compelling external “compliance events” ( like Basel II or HIPAA)
But companies in every industry are looking to increase revenues , reduce costs , improve compliance & decision making , and get more ROI from their technology investments

Some best practices we’ve observed
“ 90% of the game is half mental.”
Yogi Berra
So what works and what doesn’t work?

MDM Best Practice #1
Start with the need, pain or problem (not “the solution”)
The “build it and they will come” approach really doesn’t work for MDM
Make sure MDM solves some key business problems
How to get funding: find the pain points, and quantify the benefits (and cost) of fixing them
In particular, look at the data-related components of other in-flight projects, then see how a centralized data hub can save money Courtesy: sel

Active, involved executive sponsorship
This is true for many projects, but especially so for MDM
To champion a change, towards managing master data as a true corporate asset, is going to mean significant cultural disruption
In most companies, that type of change is best driven “top down”
Your executive sponsor doesn’t have to be involved in everything, but when the rubber meets the road, you need the “corner office” in your corner

Emphasize the organizational change management aspect
Critical to the success of large transformation projects like MDM
Outside perspective can be very helpful here
Your company’s culture is probably not conducive to data quality or proactive master data management (or you wouldn’t need MDM)
MDM projects can be very political, so figure out how to do organizational change management early on and communicate, communicate, communicate! Courtesy: Michael Heiss

The business should own MDM and data governance
As tempting as it is to start & finish with the technology, it doesn’t work
When MDM is driven by IT, the business may not understand or buy in
It’s hard, but start by building interest and demand (recruiting) in the business
Otherwise, the business won’t be committed and getting funding will be tough
MDM’s nature (an ongoing program, rather than a “once & done” project) means that even if the initial project is funded, the business may not pick it up in Year 2 & beyond

Put your best project manager(s) and people on this
Make sure you can’t be derailed by opponents pointing to avoidable project management or organizational issues
Focus on controlling scope, getting the requirements right, managing risks, and communicating effectively & often
You cannot afford to have this type of project fail …
Focus on delivering value, on time and on budget, and you’ll achieve the expected ROI

Use a holistic approach – people, process, technology and information
This may be the most important best practice of all
Start with the people, politics & culture, then move on to the data governance and stewardship processes, then the technology
You’ll succeed if you recruit the right executives as sponsors; invest the time to create a data governance team; design your governance processes, and communicate how the MDM initiative helped the company achieve its strategic objectives Courtesy: Gartner

Think of MDM as a long term program, not a short term project
Define your “to be” state and break the project up into a series of discrete, manageable phases
An architectural assessment and a well defined strategy are good early deliverables
Spend some quality time planning the initiative – the time you invest will be repaid many times over!
Plan for a “MDM way of life”, not a project that “goes live” and then is over … Courtesy: basi_16816

Create a data governance organization and processes
If there’s no dedicated data governance function, then no one lives & dies with the accuracy, completeness, timeliness and consistency of the critical information the business uses
Before you start, convince management of the need for a small data governance team
There’s no point in doing master data management if you’re not going to govern the data …

Resist the urge to customize
As the hubs mature, it's easier to resist the temptation to customize
Sometimes pushing the vendor to improve future releases is a better strategy than customization
When you do customize, do it carefully; make sure your changes are “upgrade-friendly” and documented
Most vendors are still revving their products once or twice a year, so you don’t want to get “rev locked” on an older version

Don’t underestimate the complexity
Not uncommon for companies to have 20-30 source systems that have to be integrated with the hub
Tackling other things at the same time (like service-oriented architecture or major upgrades) – MDM can help with those but it does increase degree of difficulty
If you underestimate, you’ll be under pressure to cut functionality
MDM and data governance can be disruptive to the business unless the business is driving the effort and it’s been well-planned

Test, test, test and then test again
Your MDM hub is going to be different from every other hub in the world
You’ve got a unique variety of source systems - and some of those may be custom and won’t exist anywhere else
Most vendors are doing much better at testing and QA, but the burden of testing remains squarely on the implementing company and the project team
Don’t assume that just because something’s in general release, that it will work perfectly at your site

MDM is a journey, not a sprint
“ Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
Calvin Coolidge, 30 th U.S. President

Questions?

Contact Info.
Dan Power [email_address] Hub Solution Designs, Inc. www.hubdesigns.com (781) 749-8910 office blog.hubdesigns.com (781) 735-0318 fax twitter.com/dan_power
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www.hubdesigns.com/ conferences.html
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www.hubdesigns.com/ newsletter .html
Join the MDM Community:
http://mdmcommunity.ning.com

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Best Practices in MDM, OAUG COLLABORATE 09

by Hub Solution Designs, Inc. on Dec 29, 2009

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