Master Data Management (MDM) has evolved as organizations strive to manage data more comprehensively across various domains. At the Data Management Summit
, this roundtable will examine the practicalities, risks, and limitations of implementing a multi-domain MDM strategy. While unifying data across domains—such as customer, product, and supplier—can deliver significant business value, it also introduces challenges in governance, system integration, and scalability.
Industry experts and data leaders will discuss best practices and strategic considerations, focusing on:
- What are the primary risks associated with a multi-domain MDM strategy, and how can they be mitigated?
- How do data governance, compliance, and quality issues evolve in a multi-domain framework?
- What limitations exist in current tools and practices for achieving truly cohesive multi-domain data management?
This roundtable offers a platform to share insights, address common pitfalls, and explore solutions for achieving a holistic yet manageable MDM approach, empowering attendees to navigate the complexities of multi-domain MDM with clarity and caution.
Here’s a list of insightful questions to spark discussion during a roundtable on "Implementing a Multi-Domain MDM Strategy: Risks and Limitations." These questions are designed to draw on the experiences and perspectives of consultants, vendors, and final customers, making for a well-rounded and engaging discussion.
1. Understanding Multi-Domain MDM Strategy
- To the panelists: How would you define a successful multi-domain MDM strategy, and what distinguishes it from single-domain MDM?
- To customers: What challenges did you face in defining the “domains” in your MDM strategy, and how did you determine which data entities were most critical to manage together?
- To vendors: How does your solution handle multi-domain complexity, and what would you say are the key features that differentiate it from single-domain or simpler MDM solutions?
2. Recognizing Business Risks and Challenges
- To consultants: What common risks do you observe when organizations transition to multi-domain MDM, and how do you mitigate these risks early in the process?
- To customers: What unexpected challenges did you encounter during implementation, and what impact did these have on your timeline and budget?
- To vendors: How does your platform address data silos and integration issues that arise in multi-domain MDM implementations?
3. Data Governance and Compliance
- To the entire panel: How does a multi-domain MDM strategy affect data governance requirements, especially in heavily regulated industries?
- To customers: What are the main compliance challenges you've encountered with multi-domain data management, and how have you approached them?
- To consultants: How do you help organizations balance multi-domain MDM with governance, ensuring they don’t sacrifice compliance for efficiency?
4. Scalability and Performance
- To vendors: As the complexity of data relationships grows with multi-domain MDM, how does your platform maintain performance and scalability?
- To customers: Have you faced scalability issues, and if so, how have these impacted your MDM strategy and outcomes?
- To consultants: What advice do you give clients for planning scalability in MDM, especially when they aim to add more data domains in the future?
5. Limitations of Multi-Domain MDM Solutions
- To vendors: What are the limitations of your MDM solution when it comes to multi-domain requirements, and how do you address these gaps?
- To customers: Where did you feel that the current MDM solution fell short, and what workarounds or additional tools did you find necessary?
- To consultants: When do you advise a company to avoid pursuing a multi-domain MDM strategy, and what factors typically influence that decision?
6. Data Quality Management Across Domains
- To the entire panel: What are the primary challenges in maintaining data quality across multiple domains, and what processes or technologies have been most effective in addressing these?
- To customers: How have you ensured data quality consistency across different domains and departments, and how often is this process revisited?
- To vendors: What quality management features does your MDM platform offer specifically for multi-domain environments?
7. Integration with Existing IT Infrastructure
- To vendors: What integration capabilities does your solution offer to support existing data ecosystems (e.g., ERP, CRM systems) in a multi-domain approach?
- To customers: How challenging was it to integrate your multi-domain MDM with other core systems, and what unexpected challenges arose?
- To consultants: How do you assess an organization’s readiness for a multi-domain MDM approach when it comes to their current IT infrastructure?
8. Measuring ROI and Success
- To customers: How do you measure the ROI of your multi-domain MDM implementation, and what has been most critical to achieving a positive ROI?
- To consultants: What KPIs do you recommend organizations use to track the success of a multi-domain MDM strategy?
- To vendors: How does your solution help users track and maximize ROI in multi-domain implementations?
9. Future-Proofing and Adapting to Change
- To vendors: How does your platform adapt to changing business needs and evolving data sources over time, and what tools do you offer to keep data management agile?
- To customers: What steps are you taking to ensure that your multi-domain MDM strategy is future-proof, especially considering data source evolution?
- To consultants: What are the most important factors organizations should consider to keep their MDM strategy relevant and scalable over the next 5–10 years?
10. Best Practices and Lessons Learned
- To customers: What are some key lessons learned from your MDM journey that would benefit others starting their multi-domain MDM implementation?
- To vendors: What are the most common implementation pitfalls you’ve observed, and how can organizations avoid them?
- To consultants: If you had to give one piece of critical advice to an organization beginning a multi-domain MDM journey, what would it be?
We will talk about them in one of the round tables at the Data Management Summit
.
