By: Mark Kobayashi-Hillary, IT Editor, Shared Services and Outsourcing Network (SSON)

One of the most popular business tasks often require their IT vendors to address is the Master Data Management, MDM, or. It is the practice to try to ensure that data is unique within an organization, there is only one version of the truth. A good example would be when you become a new home loan at the bank, but keeps the same bank in writing and to ask with a request that if you want a take home loans. Not only does it look stupid to them, but it also means that different parts of the bank is aware that some information about you, and without the whole picture, they can not serve you very well.

However, this practice is very difficult to get right, despite what the providers will tell you if you call and ask how to solve them. Large organizations with multiple systems across many different departments, agencies and countries. There, the complexity of mergers and acquisitions are added, so that the various systems that overlap in the mixture. Very often a process of rationalization of systems that can before the test, the data is made, control is necessary.

So this is a difficult and expensive process, situation in which the technology experts often have to deal with MDM programs. But five years ago, competed critics such as David Margulius in InfoWorld: “Current approaches to value and MDM have due to certain parties, the high cost and low return on investment criticized the leading provider of solutions were MDM.”

In the current climate, the more difficult times. Since we are the worst recession since the Great Depression and the attitude of large IT projects have seen changed. Now is the return on investment often necessary in less than a year and that the supplier is a risk of initial investment. This is not the kind of environment that supports a comprehensive systems rationalization and consolidation of data – especially because the return on investment may be concerned with thin tenacious CEO about where to reduce costs. Yes, it may be possible to counter-sell effectively if you understand your customers better, but if your sales are still right, then click OK now you really want to sanction open-heart surgery on your systems only to make them even better at a later date?

But it may be a new approach.

I had coffee last week with Steve Jones. Steve is the Global Head of Capgemini MDM, and even he admits that he sometimes a genuine attempt to get into a client and to develop data strategy, where systems overlap each other and become dependent. But he told me a different idea – not even something he tried to sell immediately – which would reduce the need for internal complexity so much more – with information on social networks like Facebook

It may sound crazy.

why a company consider Facebook a database of high-quality customer service? To begin, it is external and is automatically updated by the users, so you have no control over the data. But you think differently in terms of information, available for free

Facebook.

What is on your Facebook profile? Your date of birth, e-mail address, phone number, perhaps at home, of course, the country where you live, how about the music that you like, the foods you like and places you visit? When you consider how much information there is about consumers in a Facebook profile coup Steve proposal does not seem to start as far-fetched.

What happens if

consumer brands like Coca-Cola began with Facebook Apps and the “gender” button to set up databases, administering internally only on Facebook, instead? A charge of all the problems disappear MDM classics, and all costs for the performance of these systems – and the data is probably better. But it does mean that companies have to buy into the concept of federal data, they can not control the database even if they have access.

Does it happen? It seems likely, especially for companies which hold a lot of data about consumers, but will try first? I think 2011 is the year we see what main team and Facebook are more and more.

This article was published on the website SSON, click here to read the original article.


Master Data Management