In the era of insights-driven decision-making, master data management (MDM) plays a crucial part by ensuring consistency, accuracy, and reliability of enterprise data. MDM capabilities are a cornerstone of success for companies striving to leverage data as a product in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Selecting and investing in the right MDM platform is a critical, time-consuming, and challenging decision for an organization. Forrester’s comprehensive evaluative research will be your guide in this important decision-making process. Forrester has compared platforms offered by Ataccama, IBM, Informatica, Precisely, Profisee, Prospecta Software, Reltio, SAP, Semarchy, Stibo Systems, Syndigo, Syniti, Tamr, TIBCO Software, and Viamedici. A lot of great choices only adds to the confusion! Data and analytics professionals should carefully consider their business use cases, domains, and data requirements when shortlisting MDM platforms and be forward-thinking by keeping an eye on MDMs that:

  • Support compliance through robust federated governance. Forrester observes a significant trend in MDM initiatives within highly regulated industries such as healthcare, banking, and finance, driven by stricter government regulations on data and compliance. Obtaining a comprehensive view of enterprise data through mastering enables better management and identification of compliance issues. The distributed enablement of integrated data governance capabilities, including policy management, privacy, and access control, supports federated governance for data fabric and mesh architectures.
  • Deliver real-time data streaming, integration, and processing. The variety, velocity, and volume of data is increasing every day in enterprises. Platforms must be capable of real-time data streaming, seamless data integration, and efficient data processing. This ensures that you access the most up-to-date and relevant data to make informed decisions, respond quickly to changing demands, and capture emerging opportunities. Modern MDMs are synchronizing changes in master data instantly using event-driven data streaming.
  • Provide a unified platform with built-in data intelligence. Enterprises expect more than just data management from MDM vendors. The demand is for a platform that offers a unified solution, bringing together various data management functionalities along with built-in data intelligence features into a single, integrated environment. Data intelligence enables you to leverage data as a strategic asset with features such as management of data policies, business procedures, consent, metadata, personas, and stewardship.
  • Expand use of MDM with new capabilities and use cases. Platforms must utilize emerging technologies such as AI/ML and knowledge graphs to deliver automated and augmented data management and analytics. Solution providers constantly deliver new use cases for MDM such as environmental, social, and governance; supply chain optimization; and fraud detection. This ensures that your MDM investment remains relevant and adaptable as your business grows and evolves.

Enterprise MDM is a large undertaking that requires planning, collaboration, and consideration of various aspects. While the platform is not the sole determinant of MDM success, it serves as a foundational element. I also understand that the platform selection process can be complex, and you may have questions or need further guidance. If you’re a client, read the report and schedule an inquiry so that I can assist you and ensure that you find the most suitable MDM solution for your organization’s specific needs. Together, we can equip your business with trusted and actionable data that will drive innovation, growth, and success.