Reference data vs Master data

[Former Member]

Hello experts,

I am a little bit confused with the relationship between master data and reference data. Are these the same things? Where is reference data stored in MDM? What are some examples of reference data?

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Read the "Rules of Engagement"

Thanks!

Nichole

Edited by: Juan Reyes on Apr 3, 2009 11:14 AM

[Former Member]

Hi Nicole,

• Reference data are data describing a physical or virtual object and its properties.

• Physical: products, material, assets, customers, locations

• Virtual: cost centers, planned buildings

• Reference data can change over time via transactions, which intern known as Transactional data.

• Master Data is a static form of reference data that describes products, customers, and other information assets and their properties.

• You need the reference data in MDM to provide all the lookup tables, needed to consolidate and distribute SAP master data objects.

You can go through the following links for clear picture on MDM.

http://help.sap.com/saphelp_mdm550/helpdata/en/46/93b4470ce0581ee10000000a1553f7/frameset.htm

Hope it helped you to some extent.

Regards

SR