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Process-Driven
Master Data
Management
FOR
DUMmIES‰
SOFTWARE AG SPECIAL EDITION
by Jignesh Shah,
Mathew Manathara,
and Alexander Hoeppe
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dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Process-Driven Master Data Management For Dummies®, Software AG Special Edition
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About the Authors
Jignesh Shah is Vice President of Business Infrastructure
Products & Solutions at Software AG. He guides the direction
and marketing of Software AG’s SOA, B2B, Integration, and
MDM products. Jignesh has helped businesses around the
globe use these products to create IT infrastructure that
powers innovation and competitive advantage.
Prior to joining Software AG, Jignesh was a founding member of
OpsPlanner — a cloud-based service for disaster recovery and
emergency management. At OpsPlanner, Jignesh led multiple
functions including product engineering, product management,
and marketing. Prior to OpsPlanner, Jignesh was a Solutions
Architect at KPMG Consulting. He led the design and implementa-
tion of several large IT solutions including Business Intelligence,
E-Commerce, B2B Integration, and Employee Collaboration.
Jignesh has worked with Fortune 500 companies in industries like
high tech, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, health care,
industrial manufacturing, and federal government services.
Jignesh is also the co-author of SOA Adoption For Dummies.
Jignesh can be reached at @jshah0209 on Twitter.com.
Mathew Manathara is Vice President of Global MDM Solutions
at Software AG, where he heads the MDM Competency Center
responsible for enabling the adoption of Software AG’s master
data management offerings in the marketplace, as well as evan-
gelizing MDM internally within the organization.
Previously, Mathew was co-founder and CEO of Data
Foundations Inc, the innovative Master Data Management soft-
ware vendor acquired by Software AG in October 2010. The
company was one of the pioneers of the multi-domain approach
to MDM with its flagship product OneData, and quickly built a
customer base made up of some of the most prominent organi-
zations in the world. Mathew can be reached via LinkedIn,
Twitter (@manathara), or e-mail ([email protected]).
Alexander Hoeppe is the Solution Owner for Product Lifecycle
Management (PLM) and MDM at Software AG Consulting.
Alexander helped build up the comprehensive process-driven
MDM and PLM methodologies by working on projects ranging
from medium sized businesses to Fortune 500 companies
within the public sector, capital goods/discrete manufacturing,
automotive, chemicals, and consumer goods industries.
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dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Prior to joining Software AG, Alexander worked for
Pricewaterhouse Coopers and IBM Business Consulting
for more than five years working mainly with Fortune 500
companies on large scale global implementation and rollout
projects. Before his consulting career, Alexander worked
for five years as a design engineer and project manager in
the capital goods industry with a focus on environmental
technologies and power plant engineering and construction.
Dedications
Jignesh Shah: To my mother and father, who taught me the
value of truth and knowledge.
Mathew Manathara: To Deepali and each of our Data
Foundations colleagues, for making OneData what it is today.
Alexander Hoeppe: To each of my IDS Scheer Consulting PLM/
MDM practice colleagues for their valuable contributions to
the PDMDM methodology and many successful MDM projects.
Authors’ Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Nabeel Ahmed, Nancy Beckman,
Mike Burns, and Karen Gardner for their assistance in the
preparation of this book.
Special thanks to Bryan Quinn for his guidance and for helping
the authors focus their efforts.
We also thank Wolfram Jost, Jonathan Smith, Karl-Heinz
Streibich, and Ivo Totev for their support in making this book
possible.
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dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
About This Book ........................................................................2
Icons Used in This Book ............................................................2
Chapter 1: Wrapping Your Head around MDM . . . . . . . .3
What Is Master Data? .................................................................3
What Is MDM and What Problems Does It Solve? ..................4
Causes of Master Data Problems .............................................6
Drivers of Investment in MDM .................................................7
The Business Value of an MDM Solution ................................9
Basic Approach and Architecture behind MDM ....................10
Chapter 2: Thinking about MDM
from a Process Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
MDM Is about Data, but Not Only about Data ......................13
What’s Wrong with the Data-Focused Approach to MDM .......15
The Process-Data Connection ................................................18
Hello! Introducing Process-Driven MDM ...............................19
Chapter 3: The Three Pillars of
Process-Driven MDM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Pillar #1: MDM Is a Business-Driven Discipline ....................26
Pillar #2: Process Optimization ..............................................30
Pillar #3: Cross-Disciplinary Approach .................................32
Chapter 4: Like Goldilocks: Finding the
“Just Right” MDM Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Where to Start? .........................................................................35
The MDM Project Lifecycle .....................................................38
MDM Assessment ....................................................................40
Chapter 5: Weed Whacking Time: Planning
and Designing Your First MDM Solution . . . . . . . . . .47
Analyzing the Problem ............................................................47
Overview of Solution Components ........................................50
Technical Architecture ..........................................................52
Data Architecture .....................................................................56
Program Management and Change Management ................56
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dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
vi
Process-Driven Master Data Management For Dummies
Chapter 6: Cha-Ching! Bottom Lining MDM and
Engaging with Business Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Aligning MDM with Corporate Strategy ................................59
Making the Case for MDM to Business Stakeholders .........61
Identifying Which KPIs Will Be Affected ...............................65
Risk Management as a Driver of MDM .................................65
Understanding Data Governance ...........................................68
Chapter 7: Keeping It Cool with Your CIO:
PDMDM and IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Thinkin’ Bits and Bytes: Technology for
Process-Driven MDM ...........................................................71
SOA and MDM ...........................................................................77
Chapter 8: Ten Secrets to MDM Success . . . . . . . . . . .81
Understand the Business Problem ........................................81
Set Realistic MDM Objectives .................................................82
Keep Project Scope Clear and Tight ......................................82
Get Commitment Early from All Stakeholders .....................82
MDM Is Multidimensional! ......................................................82
Take a Process-Driven Approach...........................................82
Set Clear Responsibilities .......................................................83
Use Flexible Technology ........................................................83
Focus on Organizational Standards
and Reusable Models ...........................................................83
Don’t Forget Change Management .........................................83
Appendix: Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Web Resources .........................................................................85
Conferences ..............................................................................85
MDM Market Research ............................................................86
Other Dummies Books from Software AG .............................86
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dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Foreword
M
aster data management (MDM) is a strategic, competi-
tive business strategy. Is your business looking for
new ways to drive down costs or enable better regulatory
compliance? What about enabling growth as the economic
upturn comes or when M&A (mergers and acquisitions) are
on the horizon? Whether increasing revenue, improving risk
management and compliance, optimizing operational efficien-
cies, or strategically differentiating an organization from its
competitors, MDM is widely recognized at the executive level
as a compelling proposition. It’s usually manifested in a stra-
tegic business initiative called a single view of the customer or
some similar name.
Here are some things to keep in mind about MDM:
U MDM is pandemic. MDM provides a trusted, consistent
view of key information assets across the enterprise —
ranging from customers, products, and suppliers to
locations and more. In large corporations, MDM is
increasingly becoming a business transformation
strategy as the cornerstone of every critical business
process and business decision.
U MDM as “career insurance/diversification.” Face it,
MDM is coming to an IT organization near you. Savvy IT
professionals in the business intelligence and application
integration fields are revamping their skills, portfolio,
and resumes to focus on MDM as a key opportunity. The
job titles that are the primary beneficiaries of the current
shortage in MDM expertise are: enterprise data/solu-
tion architects, enterprise data modelers, MDM program
leads, directors of data governance, and data stewards.
Now is the opportune time to update your IT skills port-
folio to leverage such key trends.
U Looking for the straight facts on MDM? In this
friendly, authoritative guide, renowned MDM and BPM
practitioners Alexander Hoeppe, Mathew Manathara, and
These materials are the copyright of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and any
dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
Jignesh Shah provide the reader the latest on everything
from data governance and reference data to new MDM
methods such as big data and cloud-enablement.
They also debunk technical myths and cover new
methodologies to overcome business dysfunction and
organizational entropy as well as enhance profitability,
increase customer satisfaction, and enable a more agile
organization that is M&A-ready and channel-flexible for
the brave new worlds of IT yet to come. That’s a lot of
territory for one book to cover! Lastly, for anyone who’s
ever been frustrated by vendor “market-tectures” and
dogma or industry analyst pedantic models, this guide
explains a wide range of use cases and best practices
using common sense analogies and terminology.
The bottom line is that MDM is quickly broadening its attrac-
tiveness as a key enabler of strategic business initiatives as
well as tactical P&L initiatives. As of 2011, MDM is clearly for
the masses as well as business-critical for large enterprises.
And both MDM and BPM professionals need to do more than
just get along. Now is the perfect time for this book, which
brings the two worlds together in clear focus in an informa-
tive style that everyone can benefit from — whether you are a
data person (MDM architects), a process engineer (BPM mod-
elers), or someone interested in seeing how MDM can help
their business.
Aaron Zornes
Chief Research Officer, The MDM Institute
Conference Chairman,
The MDM & Data Governance Summit Series
(London, New York City, San Francisco,
Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto)
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dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.
