<s>
Master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
(	O
MDM	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
technology-enabled	O
discipline	O
in	O
which	O
business	O
and	O
information	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
work	O
together	O
to	O
ensure	O
the	O
uniformity	O
,	O
accuracy	O
,	O
stewardship	O
,	O
semantic	O
consistency	B-General_Concept
and	O
accountability	O
of	O
the	O
enterprise	O
's	O
official	O
shared	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
assets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Organisations	O
,	O
or	O
groups	O
of	O
organisations	O
,	O
may	O
establish	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
when	O
they	O
hold	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
copy	O
of	O
data	O
about	O
a	O
business	O
entity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Holding	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
copy	O
of	O
this	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
inherently	O
means	O
that	O
there	O
is	O
an	O
inefficiency	O
in	O
maintaining	O
a	O
"	O
single	B-Application
version	I-Application
of	I-Application
the	I-Application
truth	I-Application
"	O
across	O
all	O
copies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
a	O
basic	O
level	O
,	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
seeks	O
to	O
ensure	O
that	O
an	O
organization	O
does	O
not	O
use	O
multiple	O
(	O
potentially	O
inconsistent	B-General_Concept
)	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
in	O
different	O
parts	O
of	O
its	O
operations	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
occur	O
in	O
large	O
organizations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
problems	O
include	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
)	O
issues	O
with	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
data	O
,	O
consistent	O
classification	O
and	O
identification	O
of	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
data-reconciliation	B-General_Concept
issues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
of	O
disparate	O
data	O
systems	O
requires	O
data	B-General_Concept
transformations	I-General_Concept
as	O
the	O
data	O
extracted	O
from	O
the	O
disparate	O
source	O
data	O
system	O
is	O
transformed	O
and	O
loaded	O
into	O
the	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
hub	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
synchronize	O
the	O
disparate	O
source	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
managed	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
extracted	O
from	O
the	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
hub	O
is	O
again	O
transformed	O
and	O
loaded	O
into	O
the	O
disparate	O
source	O
data	O
system	O
as	O
the	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
updated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
with	O
other	O
Extract	O
,	O
Transform	O
,	O
Load-based	O
data	O
movement	O
,	O
these	O
processes	O
are	O
expensive	O
and	O
inefficient	O
to	O
develop	O
and	O
to	O
maintain	O
which	O
greatly	O
reduces	O
the	O
return	O
on	O
investment	O
for	O
the	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
root	O
causes	O
for	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
issues	O
in	O
organisations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
process	O
of	O
record	B-General_Concept
linkage	I-General_Concept
is	O
used	O
to	O
associate	O
different	O
records	O
that	O
correspond	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
entity	O
,	O
in	O
this	O
case	O
the	O
same	O
person	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
reasons	O
some	O
large	O
corporations	O
experience	O
massive	O
issues	O
with	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
is	O
growth	O
through	O
mergers	O
or	O
acquisitions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
organizations	O
which	O
merge	O
will	O
typically	O
create	O
an	O
entity	O
with	O
duplicate	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
(	O
since	O
each	O
likely	O
had	O
at	O
least	O
one	O
master	O
database	O
of	O
its	O
own	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
merger	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ideally	O
,	O
database	B-General_Concept
administrators	I-General_Concept
resolve	O
this	O
problem	O
through	O
deduplication	B-General_Concept
of	O
the	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
merger	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
practice	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
reconciling	O
several	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
systems	O
can	O
present	O
difficulties	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
dependencies	O
that	O
existing	O
applications	O
have	O
on	O
the	O
master	O
databases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
more	O
often	O
than	O
not	O
the	O
two	O
systems	O
do	O
not	O
fully	O
merge	O
,	O
but	O
remain	O
separate	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
special	O
reconciliation	O
process	O
defined	O
that	O
ensures	O
consistency	B-General_Concept
between	O
the	O
data	O
stored	O
in	O
the	O
two	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
time	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
as	O
further	O
mergers	O
and	O
acquisitions	O
occur	O
,	O
the	O
problem	O
multiplies	O
,	O
more	O
and	O
more	O
master	O
databases	O
appear	O
,	O
and	O
data-reconciliation	B-General_Concept
processes	O
become	O
extremely	O
complex	O
,	O
and	O
consequently	O
unmanageable	O
and	O
unreliable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
this	O
trend	O
,	O
one	O
can	O
find	O
organizations	O
with	O
10	O
,	O
15	O
,	O
or	O
even	O
as	O
many	O
as	O
100	O
separate	O
,	O
poorly	O
integrated	O
master	O
databases	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
cause	O
serious	O
operational	O
problems	O
in	O
the	O
areas	O
of	O
customer	O
satisfaction	O
,	O
operational	O
efficiency	O
,	O
decision	B-Application
support	I-Application
,	O
and	O
regulatory	O
compliance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
problem	O
concerns	O
determining	O
the	O
proper	O
degree	O
of	O
detail	O
and	O
normalization	B-Application
to	O
include	O
in	O
the	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
schema	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
stakeholders	O
of	O
such	O
systems	O
may	O
be	O
forced	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
parallel	O
network	O
of	O
new	O
interfaces	O
to	O
track	O
onboarding	O
of	O
new	O
hires	O
,	O
planned	O
retirements	O
,	O
and	O
divestment	O
,	O
which	O
works	O
against	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
aims	O
of	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
is	O
enabled	O
by	O
technology	O
,	O
but	O
is	O
more	O
than	O
the	O
technologies	O
that	O
enable	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
organisation	O
's	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
capability	O
will	O
include	O
also	O
people	O
and	O
process	O
in	O
its	O
definition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Probably	O
several	O
people	O
would	O
be	O
allocated	O
to	O
each	O
role	O
,	O
each	O
person	O
responsible	O
for	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
Master	B-General_Concept
Data	I-General_Concept
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
one	O
data	O
owner	O
for	O
employee	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
another	O
for	O
customer	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
as	O
well	O
as	O
for	O
compliance	O
with	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
and	O
data	O
management	O
procedures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Data	O
Steward	O
is	O
running	O
the	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
on	O
behalf	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
owner	O
and	O
probably	O
also	O
being	O
an	O
advisor	O
to	O
the	O
Data	O
Owner	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
viewed	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
discipline	O
for	O
specialized	O
quality	O
improvement	O
"	O
defined	O
by	O
the	O
policies	O
and	O
procedures	O
put	O
in	O
place	O
by	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
organization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
the	O
objective	O
of	O
providing	O
processes	O
for	O
collecting	O
,	O
aggregating	O
,	O
matching	O
,	O
consolidating	O
,	O
quality-assuring	O
,	O
persisting	B-Application
and	O
distributing	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
throughout	O
an	O
organization	O
to	O
ensure	O
a	O
common	O
understanding	O
,	O
consistency	B-General_Concept
,	O
accuracy	O
and	O
control	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
ongoing	O
maintenance	O
and	O
application	O
use	O
of	O
that	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Processes	O
commonly	O
seen	O
in	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
include	O
source	O
identification	O
,	O
data	O
collection	O
,	O
data	B-General_Concept
transformation	I-General_Concept
,	O
normalization	B-Application
,	O
rule	O
administration	O
,	O
error	B-Error_Name
detection	I-Error_Name
and	I-Error_Name
correction	I-Error_Name
,	O
data	O
consolidation	O
,	O
data	B-General_Concept
storage	I-General_Concept
,	O
data	O
distribution	O
,	O
data	O
classification	O
,	O
taxonomy	O
services	O
,	O
item	O
master	O
creation	O
,	O
schema	B-General_Concept
mapping	I-General_Concept
,	O
product	O
codification	O
,	O
data	O
enrichment	O
,	O
hierarchy	O
management	O
,	O
business	O
semantics	O
management	O
and	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
tool	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
support	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
by	O
removing	B-General_Concept
duplicates	I-General_Concept
,	O
standardizing	O
data	O
(	O
mass	O
maintaining	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
incorporating	O
rules	O
to	O
eliminate	O
incorrect	O
data	O
from	O
entering	O
the	O
system	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
create	O
an	O
authoritative	O
source	O
of	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
are	O
the	O
products	O
,	O
accounts	O
and	O
parties	O
for	O
which	O
the	O
business	O
transactions	O
are	O
completed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Where	O
the	O
technology	O
approach	O
produces	O
a	O
"	O
golden	O
record	O
"	O
or	O
relies	O
on	O
a	O
"	O
source	O
of	O
record	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
system	B-General_Concept
of	I-General_Concept
record	I-General_Concept
"	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
common	O
to	O
talk	O
of	O
where	O
the	O
data	O
is	O
"	O
mastered	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
accepted	O
terminology	O
in	O
the	O
information	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
industry	I-General_Concept
,	O
but	O
care	O
should	O
be	O
taken	O
,	O
both	O
with	O
specialists	O
and	O
with	O
the	O
wider	O
stakeholder	O
community	O
,	O
to	O
avoid	O
confusing	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
"	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
"	O
with	O
that	O
of	O
"	O
mastering	O
data	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
models	O
for	O
implementing	O
a	O
technology	O
solution	O
for	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
a	O
spreadsheet	O
)	O
as	O
being	O
the	O
"	O
source	O
of	O
record	O
"	O
(	O
or	O
"	O
system	B-General_Concept
of	I-General_Concept
record	I-General_Concept
"	O
where	O
solely	O
application	O
databases	O
are	O
relied	O
on	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
benefit	O
of	O
this	O
model	O
is	O
its	O
conceptual	O
simplicity	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
may	O
not	O
fit	O
with	O
the	O
realities	O
of	O
complex	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
distribution	O
in	O
large	O
organisations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
source	O
of	O
record	O
can	O
be	O
federated	O
,	O
for	O
example	O
by	O
groups	O
of	O
attribute	O
(	O
so	O
that	O
different	O
attributes	O
of	O
a	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
entity	O
may	O
have	O
different	O
sources	O
of	O
record	O
)	O
or	O
geographically	O
(	O
so	O
that	O
different	O
parts	O
of	O
an	O
organisation	O
may	O
have	O
different	O
master	O
sources	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
source	O
of	O
record	O
model	O
can	O
be	O
applied	O
more	O
widely	O
than	O
simply	O
to	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
for	O
example	O
to	O
reference	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
several	O
ways	O
in	O
which	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
may	O
be	O
collated	O
and	O
distributed	O
to	O
other	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
consolidation	O
–	O
The	O
process	O
of	O
capturing	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
from	O
multiple	O
sources	O
and	O
integrating	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
hub	O
(	O
operational	O
data	O
store	O
)	O
for	O
replication	O
to	O
other	O
destination	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
federation	I-General_Concept
–	O
The	O
process	O
of	O
providing	O
a	O
single	O
virtual	O
view	O
of	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
from	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
sources	O
to	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
destination	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
propagation	O
–	O
The	O
process	O
of	O
copying	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
from	O
one	O
system	O
to	O
another	O
,	O
typically	O
through	O
point-to-point	O
interfaces	O
in	O
legacy	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
can	O
suffer	O
in	O
its	O
adoption	O
within	O
a	O
large	O
organization	O
if	O
the	O
"	O
single	B-Application
version	I-Application
of	I-Application
the	I-Application
truth	I-Application
"	O
concept	O
is	O
not	O
affirmed	O
by	O
stakeholders	O
,	O
who	O
believe	O
that	O
their	O
local	O
definition	O
of	O
the	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
necessary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
above	O
all	O
necessary	O
to	O
identify	O
if	O
different	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
is	O
genuinely	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Without	O
this	O
active	O
management	O
,	O
users	O
that	O
need	O
the	O
alternate	O
versions	O
will	O
simply	O
"	O
go	O
around	O
"	O
the	O
official	O
processes	O
,	O
thus	O
reducing	O
the	O
effectiveness	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
overall	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
program	O
.	O
</s>
