A best practice, proactive approach to master data management seeks to maximize business value and minimize risks and data uncertainty. Often, you hear about 'best practices' as an inflexible strategy which is completely standardized - we think there is more to it. Our approach to master data management is focused on how organizations can balance and leverage their own important mix of people, process and technology to maximize program effectiveness.
What are the key principles to achieve this?
- Define mission, objectives and business value for a project in order to justify budget, motivate enterprise-wide data stakeholders, provide focus and measure progress.
- Agree on an upfront governance model before implementing new solutions. This helps unify the team to address and resolve any issues and provide clear direction for business analysts configuring new systems or platforms.
- Data stewards on the business AND IT side must identify ownership and align project goals and objectives.
- Organizational changes and knowledge transfer can provide some of the biggest barriers for data management. A well thought out plan in advance of changes is critical. Often, the identification of a change management team can help provide leadership and foster communication to resolve issues as they come up.
- An end-to-end, real-time data governance program for data governance and quality will require use of software technologies. This includes tools capable of data cleansing, validation, integration and enrichment. This is when the 'technology' piece plays an extremely important role to ensure program efficiency and long-term success.
To learn more about how Utopia can assist you with your master data management best projects, please contact us at info@utopiainc.com
