Kalido and Ventana Research to Host Master Data Management Webinars; Interactive Two-Part Series to Highlight How Master Data Management Initiatives Can Dramatically Improve Corporate Data Governance and Enterprise Information Architectures

Business Wire, Oct 31, 2005

BURLINGTON, Mass. & LONDON -- Kalido, the leading provider of enterprise data warehousing and master data management software, announced that Mark Smith, senior vice president of research at Ventana Research, will deliver a two-part webinar series with Kalido on the benefits of effective master data management (MDM). The educational on-line seminars will take place November 3rd and December 8th at 11:30 EST/4:30 GMT. The sessions will focus on the role of MDM in corporate data governance and enterprise information architectures, and how MDM relates to customer data integration (CDI) and product information management (PIM). Event registration is on: http://www.kalido.com/newsandevents/event.asp?event_ID=178.

Effective master data management is the process of creating common business definitions of subjects such as brands, customers, financial indicators, and suppliers to improve the quality of enterprise performance reporting and data governance initiatives. The two webinars, themed "Master Data Management Comes of Age," reflect the rising position of MDM in the business and IT agenda. A survey of some of the world's largest companies - including BP, Philips, and Unilever - conducted at the Kalido User Group in October revealed that senior IT and business executives see tackling master data as a top three priority for their organizations in 2006. In addition, IDC recently predicted the worldwide MDM market will reach $10.4bn by 2009 (Master Data Management: Worldwide Software and Services Forecast, 2005-2009).

In the first session, entitled "Applying MDM for your entire business," Mark Smith will examine the role MDM plays in information management and information architectures, and suggest successful approaches and rationale for implementing MDM strategies. The webinar will demonstrate how MDM extends beyond related disciplines such as product information management and customer data integration.

The second webinar concentrates on the role MDM plays in corporate data governance initiatives such as regulatory compliance. Taking the form of a panel discussion moderated by Mark Smith, attendees will be able to address experts from Kalido, its customers and partners on data governance processes and technology issues.

"The explosion of interest in master data management (MDM) over the last year has been quite astounding," commented Cliff Longman, chief technology officer, Kalido. "Yet managing master data is an age-old problem, and we've been developing solutions which enable large companies to tackle master data for nearly a decade. These two sessions will give business and IT executives the chance to hear from the leading vendor and a pre-eminent analyst in the MDM space. We will showcase real-life examples of MDM in action, and explain how MDM can positively impact upon business reporting, decision making and performance."

About Kalido's MDM software application

Kalido customers are actively using KALIDO MDM from the KALIDO(R) application suite to overcome master data issues by managing common business definitions for master data within a workflow-driven, web-based repository. This repository is then used for corporate performance reporting and analysis to dramatically increase its consistency and accuracy, reduce costly errors, and obviate the need for costly standardization of the underlying operational systems.

"Golden-copy" master data can also be published and distributed to business people and operational systems to share the common definitions widely. A history of changes made to master data over time is kept to support trend analysis and audit trails for compliance and governance initiatives.

Unlike other industry solutions, KALIDO MDM manages and controls multiple types of master data, not just product or customer, with one customer now using the software to manage over one million data items spread across 350 master data categories. Additional industry-leading capabilities to tackle the challenges of managing master data include sophisticated workflow and master data modeling features, user interface customization, and significantly improved usability enhancements for navigation and data input.

About Kalido

Kalido provides adaptive enterprise data warehousing and master data management software to Global 2000 companies. The KALIDO(R) application suite (KALIDO) delivers consolidated views of enterprise performance and can rapidly adapt them to major changes in the business such as mergers and acquisitions, market consolidation, or new regulatory requirements. This improves the speed and accuracy of management and financial reporting without the cost and delay of operational system standardization. Kalido customers who have measured the business benefits of their projects have typically found they have derived annual savings of millions, and in some cases tens of millions, of dollars through improved management of their company performance and reduction of IT costs.

With KALIDO, companies can rapidly create and manage adaptive data warehouses and master data management projects throughout their lifecycle, benefiting from the software's strategic flexibility, low cost and speed of deployment. An independently audited study shows that KALIDO saves at least 55 percent in ownership costs compared to custom-built approaches, a figure surpassed by real-life customer experiences. The average KALIDO data warehouse implementation takes less than 6 months, as opposed to 16 months for conventional approaches.