Webinar Survey Shows Increase in Reporting and Business Intelligence Accuracy is Primary Expected Benefit of Master Data Management Initiatives for Data Governance

Business Wire, Dec 14, 2005

BURLINGTON, Mass. & LONDON -- Expert Forum Encourages Business-Led Master Data Management as a Key Component to Successful Data Governance

A survey of attendees to an online expert forum on data governance cited increased accuracy of reporting and business intelligence as the primary benefit expected from master data management (MDM) and data governance initiatives. Participants were polled while attending a panel featuring industry experts from Kalido, IBM, Knightsbridge Solutions and Ventana Research entitled, "Master Data Management Comes of Age Part II: Expert Forum on Data Governance," hosted by Kalido, a provider of enterprise data warehousing and master data management software. A recording of the webinar can be accessed online at: http://www.kalido.com/data_governance_webinar.> The MDM expert panel on data governance best practices, moderated by Mark Smith, Ventana Research CEO and senior vice president of research, called for organizations to manage and integrate data governance into their existing structure and for business managers to take active ownership of the data. The panel also concluded that management of master data by the business should be an important foundation for effective data governance.

When asked about expected benefits from master data management and data governance initiatives, 59 percent of respondents cited the expected increase in the accuracy of reporting and business intelligence as the primary benefit. For the same question, more than one-quarter (28 percent) selected the improvement of operational efficiency as the primary expected benefit, while only eight percent cited cost reduction of existing IT investments.

In addition, 65 percent of respondents indicated that they either currently manage or plan to manage within the next 12 months master data as a part of their data governance initiatives. This corroborates a previous survey taken at the Kalido User Group in September in which 56 percent of the Global 2000 respondents cited improvement of data governance as the reason master data management (MDM) is needed (http://www.kalido.com/kugusersurvey).

The poll's more than 150 respondents represented mostly Global 2000 organizations across a variety of industries including aerospace/defense, consumer packaged goods, financial services, government, healthcare, high-tech, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and others.

"Data governance encompasses master data management, but also includes other things such as data quality," said panelist Dr. David Waddington, vice president and research director - Master Data Management and European IT Research, Ventana Research, during the discussion.

Added panelist Daniel Gaines, senior principal and chief technology officer for the Health and Life Sciences practice at Knightsbridge Solutions: "Master data is the glue that connects all your business activities. It's one of the most important places to start your governance process."

Managing master data - business definitions of entities such as customers, brands, suppliers and financial indicators - is often a crucial first step for organizations seeking to actively manage their corporate data through data governance. As the amount of master data continues to proliferate across multiple operational systems, each with differing codes and coding structures, corporations are struggling to obtain a consolidated view of performance.

Said panelist Winston Chen, consultancy practice manager, North America, Kalido, "Data governance and master data management initiatives improve information quality significantly - even prior to arriving into a data warehouse, thereby significantly reducing the amount of integration work while increasing the accuracy of your business intelligence."

In discussing best practices, the panel cautioned that neither master data management nor data governance can be effective without a strong business owner to champion and manage the project.

"The creation of a team around data governance and also the appointment of a leader, someone like a chief data officer, are critical steps in getting started with data governance," commented panelist Paula Wiles Sigmon, product marketing director, IBM Information Integration Solutions. "One of the responsibilities for that team and that officer would be institutionalizing data quality so that MDM and data governance become an interest and a responsibility for everyone throughout the organization."

Additionally, the panel concluded:

--The organization structure for governance needs to be managed and integrated into existing structure - both business and IT - to be effective

--Senior business buy-in and support is essential as the data being managed is a valuable business asset

--Data governance and master data management initiatives can often be most effective by identifying smaller key areas (a "pilot" approach) to establish organizational structure and ownership before tackling the enterprise roll-out

--A "one-size-fits-all" solution usually doesn't work as different industries and subject areas can require different approaches and processes