Developing a Master Data Management Strategy

Developing a Master Data Management Strategy

See if this sounds familiar. Your organization wants to become data driven. It invests in a myriad of tools and technologies, data lakes and catalogs, all with the aim of generating more value from data. But you know that these efforts, while valiant, lack one thing: a master data management strategy.

Having a master data management strategy helps you align business goals with technical objectives, ensuring that the whole organization is on the same page about the definition of success. It will help you decide the best ways to spend your efforts and resources. And on a tactical level, a data mastering strategy also helps ensure that everyone is “speaking the same language” and agrees upon what the data is and is not.

Without a master data management strategy, your organization will continue to fall short of its goal of becoming truly data-driven. And while developing a master data management strategy may sound daunting, it isn’t all that difficult if you know where to begin.

How to Develop a Master Data Management Strategy
Every good master data management strategy starts by identifying the challenge and articulating ways to address it. Below, you’ll find the elements your strategy needs and the steps you should follow to create a comprehensive MDM strategy.

1. Business case: Job number one is to create a business case for master data management. Include elements like:
Why master data management is important
What happens if you fail to invest
Which tools and technologies you need to be successful
Who should be part of the project team, and
How you’ll measure success

Creating a rock-solid business case sets your strategy up for success. Not only does it help you to justify the investment of time and money, but it also helps you articulate the risk – and cost – of doing nothing.
Further, it helps you secure buy-in from the right leaders across your organization. Buy-in is key to ensuring your organization is committed to making master data management a success.

2. Deployment plan: Every master data management strategy needs a well-thought-out deployment plan. Consider all the elements you’ll need to take to make your MDM strategy a success. At minimum, make sure your plan includes the following three things:

People: bring together a team of people who can help make your strategy a soaring success. Consider colleagues who are passionate about data. Include others who are suffering because you don’t currently have a master data management strategy in place. And reach out to business partners who will ultimately benefit once the master data management strategy is fully-executed.

Process: define the process you’ll follow to execute your plan. Create timelines. Assign roles and responsibilities. Define phases and deliverables. And articulate the outcomes you expect.
Technology: every successful master data management strategy has best-in-class technology to support it. So it’s critical that your deployment plan includes a technology assessment.

3. Architecture scope: Like a solid deployment plan, it’s also important that you define the architecture scope as part of your master data management strategy. Start by prioritizing one or two use cases. Define their requirements. And evaluate which modern MDM solution meets your needs.

Select a next-generation master data management platform that is cloud-native and takes a machine learning first approach. But also make certain that the technology doesn’t overlook the need for human feedback. Because while machine learning is critical, so is human feedback.

Once you’ve successfully rolled out the first use case, do a retrospective with the team. Understand what went well – and what didn’t. Learn from it. Adjust your plan. And then get started on the next use case.

4. Maintenance/DataOps: The final element of your master data management strategy is maintenance. And this is where you want to consider incorporating a DataOps mindset.