In this digital era, data is one of the most significant assets for any business. The increasing volume of data in the past few years has made it difficult for companies to manage data efficiently. As companies aim to utilize their data optimally, master data management has become their prime focus.
Master data is the powerhouse of the most valuable information that a company owns. It is used by its departments across the organization to get their work done.
Given just how critical data is, Master Data Management (MDM) is a vital function for any business irrespective of its size and reach.
This process deals with the end-to-end process of the data journey in the organization. It involves data collection from the relevant sources, application of business rules to establish a single data source, data validation, data transmission to the concerned parties, and data reconciliation.
An MDM solution helps various departments and applications of a company navigate through the master data. It consolidates the complete data offering into a single source, which provides an integrated data application to diverse business functions across the organization.
Here are a few benefits of Master Data Management:
Improved Data Quality
As the MDM application streamlines the data, it also eliminates bad data. As a result, users can work with current data that is of better quality and thus more usable.
If master data is stored in multiple destinations like different formats, traditional spreadsheets and isolated applications, it can reduce the usability of the data. In addition, inconsistent data formatting hampers the productivity of various processes that rely on the master data for their tasks.
MDM also ensures consistency and uniformity across the data, which makes the business processes more efficient and effective.
Reduces Time and Cost
It could be challenging for companies to manage the increasing volume of data without MDM. The complexity of master data makes manual processing very challenging. It also takes a lot of time and money to process master data accurately.
This application automates most aspects of the data management process, which saves an enormous amount of time. As the companies need to employ fewer resources to manage the data with MDM, this solution also reduces the data management and processing costs.
Avoids Data Duplication
Redundancy is one of the big problems with decentralized data applications. Data duplication leads to a lot of confusion which may further lead to errors in not only the master data process but also other business processes that are dependent on master data.
An MDM solution builds a single data source that eliminates duplication of data and thus increases the efficiency of the business processes.
Increased Data Accuracy
MDM prunes duplication and inconsistencies in the data. As discrepancies in master data would have a ripple effect on most business areas of the organization, it is crucial to get it right at the master data level. Thus, it reduces the risk of data inaccuracy. It also gives the data a proper structure, which avoids any confusion while retrieving the data from the application.
Better Data Compliance
With the regulations and policies around data getting stricter by the day, efficient data storage and management are critical to any business dealing with data. Non-compliance with data regulations may lead to far-reaching implications, which include penalties and loss of reputation. MDM decreases the chances of security breaches and regulatory non-compliance.
Informed Decision Making
MDM offers a holistic vision and better control over the organization’s data. Incomplete and wrong information would allow management to make misinformed decisions that would impact the long-term growth of the company. Access to updated and quality data would assist the managers to develop effective strategies. This application, in turn, helps the leadership, senior management, and middle management to make informed decisions.
Handling Change Requests
With MDM, companies can restrict access to change the master data to specific individuals. As master data is the single source of crucial data that is used by the departments across the organization, it is vital to protect the data from misuse. Restricted access to change data can help ensure data security and enable data consistency.
Enables Easy Data Edits
Without Master Data Management to consolidate and control the master data, users would record data in multiple destinations. Therefore, any changes made to the data would not only remain isolated but would also create major data inconsistency issues. With MDM, any changes made to the master data will reflect across all the relevant data destinations.
A Single Source of Truth
Efficient data management is the need of the hour, making MDM software one of the best ways to overcome the challenges of manual data management, redundant data, and data discrepancies in master data. You can break free from cumbersome spreadsheets and complex data structures with this software. It streamlines all the processes related to the master data management of your company.
The above-listed benefits of Master Data Management are just the tip of the iceberg. STAEDEAN’s Data Management Solutions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management can help you reap these benefits effectively. If you are looking to manage master data management in D365 F&SCM using a no-code solution our Data Governance Solution is worth exploring. For more information on master data management, download our beginner’s guide to MDM from the link below.
Jerry Caous
