At the recent DAMA conference in Seattle, Washington, Baseline consultant, Shravan Miriyala, Ph.D., spoke on the subject of data management, and more specifically, about the tactical components of a Master Data Management (MDM) strategy.

INSIGHT: Shravan, how did the session go? What was attendance like?

Shravan Miriyala: The presentation was about “Data Management and MDM” and was very well received. The focus of the presentation was to highlight the paramount importance of the Data Management discipline for a successful MDM implementation. The audience consisted of over 100 DAMA members.

INSIGHT: Within your audience, how well were both business and IT represented?

SM: The audience had a diverse cross-section of people - both from IT and business - and ranged from VPs and marketing specialists to data administrators and system architects.

INSIGHT: What would you say are the main misconceptions held by organizations as they circle around MDM as a strategy?

SM: Most organizations view MDM as a technological tool and make it happen (MDM, that is) by just investing large sums from their budgets. However, they fail to realize that unlike other applications or solutions, MDM, by its very nature, becomes the centerpiece of their business automation - much like the sun in the solar system - thus impacting numerous parts of their business and interfacing applications. Evidently, MDM demands that consistent and common business definitions and data standards be adopted through effective data management. Therefore, MDM is more than a technological device: it involves people, processes and technology.

INSIGHT: In your experience, what is the general status of organizations attempting to implement an MDM strategy? At what stage in the game are we?

SM: Companies are learning the hard way how to get MDM off the ground successfully. Several companies embark on a MDM implementation without proper ground work, only to subsequently realize that they need to backtrack and do their homework – such as identify data elements of corporate significance and define the data standards, policies and organizational groups to support it. Companies start off with a revolutionary approach, but end up with an evolutionary path with regards to MDM.

INSIGHT: What did your audience take away from this particular session?

SM: The audience learned that unlike data governance that has a strategic focus, data management is a tactical, ground-level unit that defines and manages data standards, data definitions, and data provisioning and sharing - and then ensures such policies are followed. They also learned that data management can be a one-stop shop for different departments and business professionals - including executive management, operations personnel and external vendors - to request, understand and integrate their data with corporate systems. This, in turn, results in nimble decisions, quicker turnaround times, a reduction in rework efforts, and smoother business process automation. Data management is the means to manage data as a corporate information asset and is critical to successful MDM adoptions.

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