Introduction

The inundation of data from all quarters have left businesses grappling with the pressure to increasingly leverage data to improve their performance. Needless to say, despite the best of cutting edge technologies and Analytical platforms, there remains the longing desire for  data democratization , a world where business executives no longer need to maneuver through IT departments and people to obtain the data they are seeking.

Then comes the adage of mastering the organization’s core data and the value that MDM brings to driving Business value and insights. In this paper let us explore how MDM plays a pivotal role in propelling Data democratization and the adjunction between the concepts.

Why Data Democratization?

Traditionally and for the longest time the IT teams in any organization have played the vital role of the data custodians. Thus, we have had the Business units like the Sales, Marketing, Procurement etc. requesting specific I.T. teams for data to enable the business decision making process.  This model has worked seemingly well for decades with the caveat that the request was correctly interpreted by IT and not to undermine the role that the techno functional mortal played.

Then arises a school of thought that believes in access to data across all tiers of the organization based on ownership, roles, and responsibilities. The belief has been that more the people with diverse expertise who could access the data easily and quickly, the better the organization will be able to derive critical business insights. This concept popularly known as Data Democratization clinches on the belief that the more well distributed and accessible data is, the better the competitive advantage.

So is this such a big deal as it is made out to be. Sample this – As part of a large bank’s evolving business priorities related to compliance management, innovative customer experience, optimized processes and consolidated financial and Credit Risk reporting, the primary driver was on the executive and enterprise leverage of data aka ‘Data Democratization’ !!

The Information Pyramid very clearly articulates the focus of information across the various layers. Enterprises have typically invested enormous amount of effort and capital in the Lights On’ viz. running the business aspect. So also, a reasonable extent on ‘Managing the Business, where recent advancements in the analytics space and Information management have opened up frontiers for Business leads to explore a world beyond relying merely on the technical team for throughputs.  But one area that remain largely untapped and where the next gen organizations are moving towards is the ‘Executive Leverage ‘area. Thus, we are looking at a new world where data is accessible to a whole set of diverse people, thus empowering every level within an organization to utilize the data discreetly for driving business growth

One can clearly elucidate that Data democratization gravitates towards establishing an enterprise wide shared Data services capability, where in, there lies no room for misinterpretation of data by the non-technical users.  And the cornerstone of setting up such trust-worthy, consistent, and accurate data within an organization typically begins with an MDM journey.

The Master Data connection

Master data is at the center of every critical business activity and is shared across business teams and IT applications. It defines the core information or dimensions such as customers, products suppliers, financial hierarchies, employee, locations etc. and associated reference codes. Operations rely on it for a consistent flow of information. Analytics relies on it for accurate dimensions and hierarchies to find trends and make predictions. And compliance efforts rely on it to ensure truth and accuracy in meeting regulatory requirements.

Master data is data shared across business teams and IT applications, that defines key information such as products, organization, customers, suppliers, financial hierarchies, assets, locations, or reference codes. This data is complex and multifaceted and . . .

• Has associated definitions, attributes, connections, metadata, and taxonomies
• Has relationships with other data (and itself)
• Can pertain to the past, present, and/or future
• Needs to be adapted to multiple contexts
• Has various owners across the organization
• Has a specific lifecycle
• Is used by applications using many patterns

A Master Data Management platform helps define, manage, share, and govern shared data in a central solution so business users can securely collaborate and consume consistent, accurate, and well-maintained data.

Thus, through MDM we are allowing for the non-specialists to be able to gather and analyze data without seeking the help of other technical staff for consolidations and verifications against systems

Conclusion

The ability to own and leverage the business data as needed and the reduced dependencies on the IT teams spells a newfound freedom and success to business stakeholders. Coupled with the elimination of efforts spent in data management activities of de-duplication, synchronization, reconciliations has also helped the IT departments to focus on more critical functions that are needed to run and grow business. Needless to say, the MDM approach towards Data democratization is a win-win for the organization at large.