How is Master Data like The Lion King?

Having recently returned from an amazing performance of The Lion King – the musical, in Edinburgh, Scotland, I find myself immersed in visions of the Serengeti Plains and the sounds of tribal songs. But you don't have to travel far to come up against tribal elements... One of the challenges of managing Master Data is locating all of the sources. From Excel spreadsheets to different accounting systems, the true hunt begins when trying to access the tribal knowledge required to navigate the formulas, pivot tables and manual reports required to achieve comprehensive, consolidated results. Shared Services organizations often experience the added complexities of acquisitions, divestitures, multiple Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) systems or instances and regional regulations related to data location and storage. Master Data Management (MDM) is comprised of the processes, governance, policies, standards and tools that consistently define and manage the critical data of an organization. The objective of Master Data Management is to provide an individual point of reference often referred to as a single version of the truth. The data that is mastered may include: Reference data - the business objects for transactions and the dimensions for analysis Transactional data - supports application of the data Analytical data - supports decision making Data is no longer tied exclusively to traditional relational database solutions, such as ERP systems, and is found in a wide range of sources. Organizations face numerous considerations in collecting, managing, governing, and assimilating data while maintaining data quality standards for usage, insights, reporting and business intelligence components. A data domain represents a named and defined set of values that one or more attributes draw their values from. Examples of master data domains include Customer, Vendor, Supplier, Employee and Financial. Shared Services serves as the data owner for the lion’s share of a company’s data domains and has both the ripe opportunity and significant challenge of taking ownership of master data initiatives. In the Master Data Management tribe, governance is king. Governance is the process of defining the ownership and accountability for all aspects associated with master data including: Master Data elements and structure Master Data processes (to create and maintain master data) Master Data quality and business rules (for creating and maintaining master data) Master Data access, delivery, security and usage One step toward managing your master data is to create a master data record to document and describe your critical data and later reference this record when outlining your governance structure. The master data record sample template is a tool to begin cataloging the system-of-record for each data subject area, unique identifiers, system owners, and integrated systems for key data in the data domain being assessed. The completed Master Data record can be used to plan integration paths and identify gaps to prioritize areas for improving data quality. Would you describe your organization as having lots of data but limited information? If so, it may be time to launch a Master Data Management plan and march toward building Hakuna Matata in your key business asset, data. Successful Master Data Management implementations result in improved business process performance, enhanced operational efficiency and increased forecasting accuracy. Enriched decision-making, heightened data governance, improved regulatory compliance and more streamlined audits are benefits and drivers for the Master Data Management business case. Simba, and your data, just can’t wait to be King. For additional resources and information, please access these references: 1. 7 Master Data Management Project Best Practices – Information Week interview 2. Master Data Management – Merging Multiple Sources From a SharePoint Perspective 3. Master Data Governance Model and the Mechanism To learn more, plan to attend the 2014 Shared Services and Outsourcing Week in Orlando (March 11-15) featuring the following Data Management Sessions: Workshop E: Master Data Management: Your Journey to Full Scale Analytics and Insights presented by Scott Burns, VP, Master Data and Reporting, Thomson Reuters Fireside Chat: Getting Big Insights from Big Data – How to Get from Master Data and Analytics to True Value; Interviewer: Lee Coulter, SVP, CEO, Shared Services, Ascension Health Plenary Session: Realize the Potential of Adopting a Formal Analytics Function to Produce Meaningful Data and Actionable Insights, presented by Scott B. Manning, Partner and Practice Lead, Corporate and Shared Services, ScottMadden Track Session: The Master Data Travel Guide – From Roadmap to Turn by Turn Directions, presented by HP For additional details, please download the full Program

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