Signs it is time to revisit master data management
This is one of those topics that looks small until it costs you something. A few signals that master data management is due some attention.
Numbers get quoted in meetings long after anyone remembers how they were calculated. If two people in the business would answer this differently, that gap is the actual problem.
The signals
- Nobody can say when it was last reviewed
- The answer depends on who you ask
- Two systems with different customer records will disagree at the worst moment
- Decide which system is authoritative for each entity
Where to start
Reconciliation is cheaper than arbitration later. In practice this is a scheduling problem more than a technical one. Assume whoever inherits this will have half your context and none of your patience.
The short version
Most data problems are ownership problems that turned into technical ones. Three things worth confirming about master data management before you move on:
- Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
- Two systems with different customer records will disagree at the worst moment — and you know whether that is true here
- There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped
Most of the value here comes from doing the first two things, not all of them.