The first step in any Master Data Management or Customer Data Integration project is the Discovery Phase and the first step in the Discovery Phase is to understand what the client’s goals are. Once you start with the overall goals, then there shall also be some data goals along the way to help reach the overall client goals. A Master Data Management solution can involve both Parties and Products. Parties consist of data items such as customers, prospects, resellers, vendors, suppliers, and other data types. The Parties are made up of both organizations and contacts. Many times a Master Data Management solution shall consist of the integration of Parties and Products.
In the Mid-Market, we have seen a variety of different types of overall goals for Master Data Management solutions. Common Master Data Management goals include providing a single customer view for cross-selling and up-selling, marketing analysis, and data quality goals. Another common Mid-Market Master Data Management goal is to build a new database or incorporate new files into an existing database after a merger or acquisition.
Typically, there shall be a goal that is the main driver of the Master Data Management initiative and there shall be secondary goals that will come out of the Discovery process. For example, the main driver for a Master Data Management system may be to provide their sales reps a single customer view to help up-sell and cross-sell. Inevitably, it will be discovered that the client also has issues performing analysis, such as accurately stating how much business the company is doing with ABC Company, and data quality issues. Discovering what the client’s overall goals are and the data goals that are steps along the way to reaching the overall goals is an interactive process with the client. Discovering the initial Master Data Management goals is something that should be done as the first step in the Discovery process. However, new goals, changing goals, and data goals that shall help reach the overall goals will also be discovered at any stage of a Master Data Management project.