Master Data Management (MDM): the indispensable tools

If Master Data are the intangible resources – computer and not – more valuable for a company, the Master Data Management (abbreviated to MDM) represents the system of administration and care of Master Data par excellence. We are talking about a sector of advanced corporate governance, which, however, is not just about multinationals and industrial groups. In fact, any medium and large enterprise can greatly benefit from the adoption of an effective Data Master Management strategy. This is true today and will be more and more in the future with the exponential growth of IT systems and data volumes collected through manual (call center, data entry, etc.) and automatic / semi-automatic (funnel, newsletter, landing page, etc.). Note the mixture of channels from which the data originates: we should not think of Master Data Management as something that exclusively concerns the field of infomation technology. The advantages, as we will see in this article, are real only if we take into account the set of variables involved.

Database of established customers, suppliers and partners’ personal data, lists of data related to the company’s economic resources (from the budget for marketing to the expenses for the purchase of materials)… All this requires a management as integrated as possible, fast, accurate and not least intuitive, prerogative not of an elite of experts, but of a group of technicians, more or less restricted, properly educated and updated. This is the only way to achieve a higher level of competitiveness in your business, reducing waste of time and money, and improving performance and the ability to face the challenges of the contemporary market. So let’s see the indispensable tools for a Master Data Management up to expectations.

KEY TOOLS FOR IMPLEMENTING MDM IN YOUR BUSINESS

As it is easy to understand, a complex and articulated strategy like the one that revolves around Master Data Management necessarily requires a global review of business environments and computer programs. However, do not think that it is realistic to just install an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and delegate the infrastructure upgrade to external specialists. The ERP, even if of last generation, could in fact be already present and operating in your company: this does not mean that it is also functional and reliable as forecast. To get the most out of ERP and any other interoperability solution between resources, it is essential to adopt specific tools that can work upstream of the operations to be performed. Why is that? Because if the data taken by the ERP or, better, the MDM central hub, are polluted, redundant, obsolete or incomplete, the entire scaffold will suffer, with the risk of making macroscopic errors at the expense of the quality sought.

With this in mind, some latest generation software has been developed capable of analyzing Master Data and normal data, clearing, enriching and enhancing them according to the instructions provided by staff. These software, like Address4, respond to different needs, sometimes complementary, sometimes independent. Among the main services of an analysis software to strengthen and improve the data master management process are:

As is well known, geomarketing, mapping, logistics, shipping and more tools are increasingly implemented within a company. Many of these dialogues or are an integral part of the navigators installed on vans, handhelds or mobile phones of employees, commercial and couriers, even outside the company. In this case, the Data Masters will be exploited 100% of their possibilities through special geocoding (or georeferencing) services. In more detail, the Address4 software will translate the validated address into spatial geographical coordinates, reporting the exact position on the designated map, with minimal approximate margins. And with benefits, even here, as immediate as significant.

As for addresses, so for names it is important to eliminate ambiguities and potential errors due to repetitions, omissions and more. If we think about the number of names in a set of databases, we will have a concrete idea about the dangers of exchanging one person for another, or maybe taking too much time for a search, and so on. If we then think in perspective of Data Manager, it is obvious that the negative consequences of a banal oversight become even heavier. Once again the Address4 software solves the problem at source, offering an advanced service of name validation, that is, control and remediation of hundreds of thousands of names with a simple mouse click.

Email and phone numbers are now part of Data Masters as well as addresses and names. It is hard to imagine that data of this kind could remain disconnected for a long time. More likely, instead, there is a need to integrate, merge or connect email and phone numbers with their respective owners, occasionally performing additional analysis and queries. In this regard, you can count on the email validation and phone validation services that Address4 provides in its suite. A fast, practical and immediate solution to use optimized, consistent and updated data at any time.

FROM PRODUCT INFORMATION MANAGEMENT (PIM) TO CUSTOMER DATA MANAGEMENT (CDM)

In these years of strong technological and digital development the concept of Master Data Mangement has taken on various facets, depending on the area of reference on which we want to focus attention. If we talk about products and articles, for example, we can use the expression Product Information Management to indicate the management of product information. If we are talking about customer data, then the correct term is customer data management (CDM). People, technologies and processes are in fact consubstantial to the data master management itself, recalling also rather distant spheres (web data integration, business semantics management, reference data, enterprise information integration and so on).

It is clear that in all these areas the raw material is always the data (type “master” in the case of master data management). It is also clear, therefore, that the quality of data available is an essential requirement. They must at all times be updated, remediated, corrected, then made ready and usable for analysis, storage or proactive monitoring. New artificial intelligence systems are emerging and evolving at extraordinary speeds, contributing significantly to the improvement of data processing methodologies. A business that, according to Globenewswire magazine, could be worth by 2027 the astronomical figure of 34.5 billion dollars. Companies and multinationals must decide whether or not to embrace this market with enormous potential, preparing their infrastructure for data management that meets the future expectations and dynamics of the global market.

THE ADDRESS4 SUITE FOR MASTER DATA MANAGEMENT

Moving from a low rate of automation and knowledge of data to a modern scenario of Master Data Management involves significant investments, in any case destined to pay off in the long term. Both in terms of the specialists involved, and in terms of the resources created or purchased, it is clear that the amount of work to be budgeted can be very large. For this reason it is advisable to proceed in steps, planning tasks according to a short and medium-term priority schedule. Starting with the reclamation and arrangement of the data in possession could prove to be the smartest choice not to postpone the problem indefinitely, taking the first, inevitable steps in the direction of Master Data Management.

Address4 offers a suite of state-of-the-art MDM tools that are dedicated to companies and companies in the most diverse sectors. With data coverage spanning more than 200 countries around the world, Address4 remains the right answer for business objectives across a wide range of industries. It goes without saying that the infrastructures to manage MDM software and applications are multiple. The question then arises: with which of these infrastructures can dialogue a data validation program like ours? Answer is neither obvious nor immediate: the solutions on the market are in fact numerous and constantly updated, we can however identify some of the most famous and renowned names and confirm that for all the big in the industry compatibility is guaranteed. Let us look more closely at national and international reference infrastructures and how integration can take place.

Faced with the complexity of Data Master Management systems, it is possible to decide for which environment and infrastructure to choose. For all intents and purposes this is a false problem, in the sense that companies and structured enterprises usually have their own internal system already in use and working, a system to which the data validation software will have to adapt (Address4 or others). The latter, in our case, can be integrated into business applications of any type and kind, alternatively you can exploit it directly via web (online), without the need for any installation on site.

Address4 is in fact compatible without any kind of intervention with multiple types of software, from CRM to ERP, from data entry software to web masks for data entry (ecommerce, landing page, etc.). Not only that: in standard environments you can install Address4 in the form of plugins, just as it happens among others for WordPress. These infrastructures include IBM, SAP, Windows Google, Oracle and others. It is therefore likely that if such a system is already present in the company where Address4 is to be used. Otherwise, you can also use Address4 online, registering your free profile and then, exhausted the first 100 credits, buying new credits at your discretion.

TRIAL VERSION OF ADDRESS4 SOFTWARE IN FREE TRIAL

Thanks to the trial version of the software, you can get a first taste of the potential of our data quality tools. No installation required: just fill in the form to create your free profile without any commitment. Once your account is activated, you can enjoy 100 free credits to use in batches and online (just tick in the form). You can normalize addresses, geocode them, use the autocomplete feature, and access advanced features. In addition, we offer you the complimentary ebook on Data Quality, with lots of valuable information to enter the world of data validation and take advantage of the huge potential it holds. Just download the ebook and read it whenever you want to get a complete and updated overview of data quality.

As for the registered profile, every time you carry out a data validation with your online account you will see a certain number of credits. When you want, you can buy new ones, continuing with your data validation and other advanced remediation features. Depending on your needs then you will always have full control of the account and you can decide if and how much to invest in each project and activity of master data mangement. All without needing a subscription plan with automatic renewal, as is the case for other online tools. A unique opportunity to implement your master data management strategy even remotely, in any country of the world with access to the Internet, without errors, without compromises and with extreme speed.

Create your free account and discover the potential of Address4 for MDM!