8 Best Practices for Cloud Master Data Management
Cloud computing has gained a lot of attention in the last decade since Amazon Web Services (AWS) first launched in 2006. Amazon has been the undisputed leader in the fundamental shift in the delivery of products and services to end customers ever since, but its dominance is now being challenged by an aggressive push by both Microsoft and Google cloud computing platforms.
I speak with leaders in many organizations, and each one has a strategy that is unique to their journey to the cloud. And oftentimes, their choice of cloud providers is different. However, from a master data management (MDM) standpoint, the number of options that companies want isn’t any different. While an organization may need the agility, nimbleness, and cost benefits of the cloud, they also measure the maturity of the solution from capability and data security standpoint.
Many fully cloud-based MDM solutions may meet the business demands for speed and flexibility, but lack tested, enterprise-class functionality and scale because these solutions are new to the market. This lack of trust can be of particular concern if you need to comply with regulations that demand robust protections for sensitive data.
In this blog, I explore eight areas every organization needs to pay close attention to as they prepare to embrace a cloud-based master data management solution.
Because of the immaturity of many cloud MDM solutions today, businesses often find themselves having to create a complete MDM solution using tools from multiple vendors. A comprehensive cloud-based solution will make you more efficient because all the capabilities are available in one place. This packaging means that now you can focus on deriving business value from MDM. Check to make sure your cloud solution combines data catalog, data integration, data quality, data enrichment, and business process management into a single offering. Many companies—like TELUS, Wolters Kluwer, and Coca-Cola—are leveraging an end-to-end MDM solution on the cloud to ensure they are successful.
2. Data Security Should Not Be an Afterthought
MDM manages the information about your customers, citizens, patients, providers, employees, and many other types of third-party data (including B2B parties). These domains frequently include name, address, phone numbers, email address, contact preferences, etc. MDM may also store sensitive customer information, such as Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, account numbers, and other personally identifiable information (PII). It can be frightening to manage this data if you do not have appropriate data security controls in place. Your cloud MDM strategy must include a focus on master data security for both data in motion and data at rest. I discussed three master data security aspects that companies must consider in a recent blog.
3. Be Modular and Take a Phased Approach
Organizations rarely move to a full end-to-end MDM implementation all at once. The best practice for implementation is to follow a phased approach, starting with more straightforward use cases and working up to complex and powerful cases. Your cloud-based MDM solution should support all of these phases so that you can move through each stage seamlessly. Your requirements continuously change, and you need the flexibility to enhance your solution without having to replace MDM. Your cloud MDM solution should allow you to start small, with “low-hanging fruit” projects that are easy to implement and offer quick, visible wins.
