Knut Juergensen gives an overview of Master Data Management:
The sad reality in many companies is that there is no MDM, or that it exists but is implemented and managed poorly. Often, this is due to lack of managerial-level understanding of its real value and, subsequently, a lack of investment.
I’ll recount some of the problems that we encountered with our MDM system, at least partly due to this lack of understanding and investment from management. Although the example is specific to engineering manufacturing, I know that similar fundamental flaws affect other MDM systems in other environments.
The primary master data in this case comprises the parts and products used in our assembly lines, which are provided and created by our in-house and external design engineers. A core issue with our MDM system is the source of this master data.
Knut gives a good explanation of what MDM is, how it works, and then an example of how it doesn’t work. Read the whole thing.