Question Re: Master Data - What is it? in Technology Q&A

Master Data - What is it?

Former Member — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:52:03 GMT

This is a very odd but basic question - What is master data in HCM? I need to be able to identify master data (not config data and not transactional data) to create data designs (designs that govern the purpose and use of the data, who's responsible, etc).

The definition I'm given for master data is:

Master data is the fundamental business data in an enterprise and defines the business objects and classifications that describe overall business information. It is generally unchanging, although major additions / changes may occur when new company are added, and are used across multiple applications.

To me - master data is contained on the infotypes. Is there a good way to find this using the data modeler in SAP - tcode: SD11? I was given a list by somone who used SD11 - but it isn't necessarily accurate because it includes many items/entities that are not on the info type screens, nor can I necessarily find them in config - so I'm not sure what they are other than 'attributes' to the higher object.

Thanks for any input you can give me.

Re: Master Data - What is it?

Former Member — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:57:45 GMT

Hi Senorita,

To make it clear i''d like to share something about data and MDM.Data is the food for any system to run and master data is the heart of that system.Master data is that crucial information on which all your business process run.If your master data is not in proper shape the analytics run on them will be incorrect as a result the business decisions taken will be wrong and this will result in a complete failure of your business.

There are many ERP systems existing today but very few provide an effective,systematic and fool proof method to preserve a single version of truth odf your master data.

SAP MDM address this problem and so is here today to bring all your master data under one roof.

So,in general,benefits of keeping Master data in 1 place is

Conformance/Auditing

Single view of customer

Global data synchronization efforts

Accurate reporting

Consolidation after mergers and acquisitions

Reduced effort to consolidate information

Reduced cleansing/mapping of information

Increased efficiency

Reduced costs overall.

with this much details you can refer to the URLs which have detailed infomation about every aspects of MDM:

For detailed overview

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_mdm550/helpdata/en/47/1c5928cd0412b8e10000000a1553f7/content.htm

To know about Key capabilities:

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_mdm550/helpdata/en/46/b8065a4df01517e10000000a114a6b/content.htm

Read reference Guide of various modules of MDM:

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_mdm550/helpdata/en/88/9f9c427055c66ae10000000a155106/content.htm

I hope these documentation will help you in your reading.

Pls reward points if helpful

BR,

Krutarth

Re: Master Data - What is it?

Former Member — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:59:58 GMT

Moreover, Master data is the core data of an enterprise that exists independently of specific business transactions and is referenced in business transactions. It builds the foundation for the smooth execution of business processes and well-informed business decisions. Master data represents business objects rather than business transactions and is rarely changed over a long period of time. The following objects are among a company’s most important master data objects:

● Product

● Customer

● Supplier

● Employee

Companies have to be aware that there are several different views on master data. So within one company, the different areas create individual versions of a master data record and the trading partners along the value chain also introduce additional versions. To demonstrate this, the figure below shows that the different versions are stored in multiple systems:

● The customer Jane has (except for her first name) totally different data in the call center and the ERP system.

● The product to be sold has three different part numbers.

● The vendor has two different identification numbers.

MDM as a technology

Master data management (MDM) is a technology that includes the definition of processes and responsibilities for master data maintenance. In case of distributed systems, MDM has to support the synchronization of master data across the enterprise. In addition, MDM has to ensure the availability of master data in good quality. MDM is the sum of all activities, processes and technical mechanisms that are required to achieve these goals.

However, MDM is not only a technology, it also requires joint efforts from different business areas as well as organizational rules and processes. So MDM is an enterprise-wide task that requires the cooperation of a company’s business units which includes policies and responsibilities for managing master data.

Re: Master Data - What is it?

Former Member — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:53:17 GMT

Hi Senorita,

Working across Sap heterogeneous forums systems at multiple places, SAP Master Data Management leverages accessible IT assets in business-critical data, delivering greatly reduced data repairs charges and very useful for sap business jobs. Moreover, by ensuring cross-system data consistency, SAP Master Data Management speed ups the implementation of business processes for jobs. SAP MDM is a key enabler of SAP Enterprise Service-Oriented Architecture forums.

SAP is at present on its second iteration of MDM software. Facing restricted acceptance of its primary release, SAP changed path and in 2004 purchased a small vendor in the PIM space known as A2i. This code has happen to the basis for the presently shipping SAP MDM 5.5, and for itself, most analysts believe SAP MDM to be more of a PIM than a broad MDM product at this time.

The components & tools of SAP NetWeaver master data management integrates business courses across the comprehensive value chain, delivering features and functions to help: Master data consolidation, Synchronization and distribution of master data , Centralized management of master data, Administration of master data, Management of internal content, Catalog search, Print catalog customization , Multichannel syndication of product catalog content, Business process support and Business analytics and reporting.

There are five normal execution scenarios:

Content Consolidation, Central Master Data Management, Master Data Harmonization, Rich Product Content and Global Data Synchronization With the SAP (MDM), you can:

1. Control customer relationships efficiently through streamlined visibility across various systems 2. Simply allocate master data to assigned systems through automated distribute and subscribe models 3. Lessen the number of part masters maintained worldwide by removing duplicates 4. Analyze and statement on spending by part, supplier, or other master data 5. Negotiate superior sourcing contracts based on analytical insights 6. Lessen supply chain charges by ensuring exact exchange of data involving manufacturers and dispensers or dealers. SAP Master Data Management is the basis for harmonized, reliable information that can be offered to client applications across the enterprise. It offers you a great way to attain information steadiness across your business or jobs and IT landscape. It enables improved decision-making, translating chance charges into gains, and reducing the charge of IT maintenance.

SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management (SAP NetWeaver MDM) is an enabling foundation for enterprise services and business process management – providing a single version of the truth for customer, product, employee, supplier, or user-defined data objects.

Working across heterogeneous systems at disparate locations, SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management ensures cross-system data consistency through interactive distribution. It integrates business processes across the extended value chain, delivering features and functions to enable:

• Master data consolidation – Consolidate master data for companywide analysis and reporting. SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management consolidates and cleanses master data objects from disparate systems. After consolidation, it stores information from different systems in a centralized repository. Related rich content can be included to augment the data store.

• Synchronization and distribution of master data – Enable consistent data maintenance and distribution to ensure permanent harmonization of master data. Using global attributes, you can ensure that all systems receive the same master data during distribution – and enrich the distributed data objects with additional attribute values in the target systems. Distribution can be controlled, visible, and traceable, with active status management at each distribution step.

• Centralized management of master data – Supports companywide quality standards by ensuring that central control of master data begins as soon as the data is created. Centrally created master data can subsequently be distributed to client systems as required using interactive distribution.

• Administration of master data – Manage master data without custom code. A powerful interface supports administrative tasks such as data exception handling and assignment of role-based access to business processes and information. Data managers use the interface to configure data source merging, business rules, and distribution details to downstream applications.

• Management of internal content – Collect and centralize all your content – including parametric information and rich content such as images, paragraphs of text, PDF documents, and organizational intelligence about content – in an enterprisewide repository.

• Catalog search – Deploy intuitive interfaces that help you locate items internally, publish Web catalogs on e-commerce storefronts and in supplier enablement programs, and integrate easy-to-search catalogs into e-procurement solutions – all from a centralized repository, and all at speeds surpassing normal SQL-based queries.

• Print catalog customization – Disseminate product information directly from a centralized catalog repository to popular desktop publishing programs, and automatically generate fully formatted and populated page layouts.

• Multichannel syndication of product catalog content – Publish restructured and reformatted extracts or incremental updates of your product catalog content – and distribute them to trading partners in several delimited text and XML formats – on an unscheduled or regular basis.

• Business process support – Enable communication in a heterogeneous environment, and insert master data into other systems.

• Business analytics and reporting – Leverage synchronized data for reliable analysis and accurate reporting.

The MDM Software Environment

The minimum MDM system is comprised of the following four components, illustrated in the following figure.

MDM Server

The MDM Server manages access through the SQL DBMS to one or more MDM repositories containing master data, which it serves up to various clients across a network.

MDM Console

The MDM Console allows the system manager to administer and monitor the MDM Server, and to create, maintain the structure of, and control access to the MDM repositories themselves. Records are not entered or managed with the MDM Console, but rather with client apps such as the MDM Client.

MDM Client

The MDM Client is the primary client of the MDM Server, and is the program most users see on their PCs. It allows users to store, manage and update master data consisting of text, images, and other rich content, and to create taxonomies, families, and relationships. Other clients include the Import Manager, the Image Manager, and the Syndicator.

DBMS engine

The DBMS engine is a commercial database server. MDM supports Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, and IBM DB2.

I think it may help you.

Regards

Hari

Re: Master Data - What is it?

Former Member — Sat, 10 May 2008 09:44:52 GMT

Hi,

The data cleansing requirement will take place, while move the data from legacy system to new target ERP / system. I.e. need to cleanse, enrich, de-duplicate, & standardize.

The existing data may not have consistent format since it is often being derived from various sources. It may contain duplicate information as well missing or incomplete information. Cleanse and normalize content to achieve accuracy, consistency and proper understanding of the data.

Also it’s a process of organizing the data, which will ensure enrichment of your data which are up-to-date, accurate, and complete. These processes are manual / labor intensive and require a fair bit of specialization.

If you need to have more details please feel free to interact with us as per below.

Thanks

Kumar

Edited by: Yael Oryan on Apr 19, 2009 1:35 PM