MDM implementation experience

[Former Member]

Hi All,

Can you please share your experiences in any MDM implementations and the hurdles faced when starting a new MDM project?

Also how do we need to prepare ourselves from technical point of view?

[Former Member]

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 1:39 PM

[Former Member]

Hi Preethi,

Would like to add few more points.

MDM implementation follows ASAP methodology as said above.(of course it depends on the business needs)

MDM Implementation is dependent on other ERP Systems.While Implementing MDM when various legacies are involved, various steps to be followed are

1. Analyze the existing Landscape : Here the existing system and the business process has to be studied and come up with a blueprint,which tells what can be mapped in MDM and what cannot be done.

2. Development : here the actual development Starts.(also called Project Realization)

Creation of repository,Ports,Data loads,workflow...all these stuffs happens here.

3. Testing : This is the final preparation phase ,where in all your development objects will be tested .

The Repository will be archive and unarchived in Quality Server and All kinds of testing will be done like Functional,Integration,Regressive...

If everything works fine,the repository will be moved to Production server.

4.Production Support :Go-Live period stats here.When the Business runs on SAP, we may face various issues which needs to be monitored and resolved.

Hope this gives you some understanding about the MDM Implementation approach in a project.

Thanks,

Felix

[Former Member]

Hi Preethi,

Depending on for what purpose is MDM being used in a particular project the different functionalities of MDM may be used.

For eg: You need not use MDM just for eliminating duplicates,it may be used as well for Data enrichment,Data Governance,Harmonization of data by behaving as a central hub of master data in a complex landscape.

Can you please share your experiences in any MDM implementations and the hurdles faced when starting a new MDM project?

- First of all the biggest challenge when using MDM is that you need to know the Exact capabilities of the tool,ie what the tool is capable to do and what it is not for this you need to know atleast the main basic features of MDM and in which all cases can it be used and how will it behave in that case.

Different customer might have diff problems with their master data so understanding that problem very clearly and knowing well whether MDM can be used for solving the problem is the first step of analyzing.

- Design of a correct Data Model- You need to understand how to decide on the Structure of the rep within MDM depending on the structure of your source sys or the stru of the traget system. Deciding on which fields should be of which type is very important

- Changes- Is your design feasible for any future change?should also be kept in mind besides knowing the fact that Newer version of MDM are out now and then your design implemntation should be able to upgrade easily

- Migration -You need to take care of the master dat which are already in exsisting legacy system.how to migrate them into MDM and what about the exsisting transaction or processes running on those data how to close them before going for MDM

These are some of the crucial points that need to be taken care of when you go for an MDM implementation.

Also how do we need to prepare ourselves from technical point of view?

- From the technical side the first step would be to know the 'W' questions of the tool rather than the 'H' questions.

It means you must atleast be clear technically as to What all MDM can do How to do can always be learned eventually.

Besides MDM technical knowledge you must also be sound in XI ,EP ,SAP ERP, JAVA as MDM is an integrating tool so knowledge in these areas will definitely help

Hope it helped

Kindly reward points if found useful

Thanks& Regards

Simona Pinto

[Former Member]

Hi Preethi,

According to me, The following things are required for MDM Implementation:

1. Project Preparation - Resource managment etc.

2. Studying the Business-process running in the Company.

3. Preparing the System landscape of the company and then also distinguishing it for various Domains. ( like Customer, Products, Vendor etc.) - Can be termed as Blue-Printing

4. Preparing the Attribute analysis matrix, where you specify the list of the fields which you will be maintaining into MDM.

5. Deciding the structure (type of tables) in MDM which will suitably store the fields.- Can be termed as Data Modelling.

6. Once this has been decided, you can then Technically start Woking upon the Implementation/Developments.

The 4th, 5th, and the 6th steps can be brought into Project Realization.

You might also require other SAP tools such as XI and EP which will based upon your requirement and the system landscape.

The next step will be Testing and the Integration testing.

Note : Some other steps may also be required depending upon your business studies.

Hope it helps.

*Please reward Points if useful.

Thanks and Regards

Nitin Jain

[Former Member]

Regarding Techical documents: you can refer to MDM authentic reference guides:

For MDM these are the key concepts you can go through this.

MDM Console -- http://help.sap.com/saphelp_mdmgds55/helpdata/en/88/9f9c427055c66ae10000000a155106/frameset.htm

MDM Import manager --http://help.sap.com/saphelp_mdmgds55/helpdata/en/43/120367f94c3e92e10000000a1553f6/frameset.htm

MDM DataManager --http://help.sap.com/saphelp_mdmgds55/helpdata/en/43/e0615a82b40a2ee10000000a11466f/frameset.htm

MDM Syndicator --http://help.sap.com/saphelp_mdmgds55/helpdata/EN/43/5fe0e8a55f5f6be10000000a1553f6/frameset.htm

Rgds,

Krutarth

[Former Member]

Hello Preethi,

To make it clear i''d liek 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.

Reward points if found helpful

Rgds,

Krutarth