When master data management is worth the effort

It comes up on almost every project, usually later than it should. Master data management is not free, and pretending otherwise leads to bad decisions.

Most data problems are ownership problems that turned into technical ones. If it only works because one person remembers to do something, it does not work yet.

When it is worth it

Two systems with different customer records will disagree at the worst moment. None of that requires a large budget, only a decision and someone to own it. Assume whoever inherits this will have half your context and none of your patience.

When it is not

If nothing downstream depends on it and nobody is complaining, it can wait. There is a version of this that is over-engineered, and it is worth avoiding.

How to decide

Reconciliation is cheaper than arbitration later. This is the sort of thing that compounds, quietly, in both directions. The teams that stay on top of it are the ones who put it on a calendar rather than a wish list.

The short version

Numbers get quoted in meetings long after anyone remembers how they were calculated. 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

If you want a second opinion on how yours is set up, ask.