What Is Master Data Management and Why Is It Important?

What Is Master Data Management and Why Is It Important?

by | Nov 28, 2022 | dataZen, Master Data Management

Working with data is unavoidable for companies that want to stay relevant. However, just “working with data” isn’t always enough to cause you to stand out from the pack. To set yourself apart, you need to work with data more efficiently and effectively than your competitors. That’s where master data management comes in. But what is master data management, and why is it important?

You’ve come to the right place. Read on to discover what you need to know about master data management.

Master Data Management: Explained

To understand the management part of master data, the first step is understanding master data. When we break it down to its simplest definition, master data refers to the most vital instances of data in your enterprise—all of the information that’s required to conduct business.

Of course, this can be further divided into a few different domains. For instance, your customers, products, and locations are all key elements of master data. Without any one of those elements, your company could not survive. You should also consider a subset of “other” factors, like warranties and contracts. All these unique elements comprise your master data.

Master data management, then, refers to how your business handles all that information. Now, things may get a bit more confusing. Master data management technology, often called MDM, allows you to perform tasks with data management in mind. Master data management as a discipline is more conceptual—it gives you principles that will help you govern your data successfully.

Reduced Workload

The collection and maintenance of master data is a full-time job—one that you should leave to a dedicated master data management system. Without one, you’re expecting every department to spend time managing their own data alongside their regular job functions.

As soon as you remove data management from the workload, all your departments will find it easier to complete their work on time (or even early). A master data management system allows you to collect each piece of data simultaneously rather than having each department collect and utilize the data separately.

Over time, this makes your business quicker and more efficient, which saves you money while getting the reports you need on time.

Higher Data Quality

When separate departments are responsible for maintaining their data, you’re bound to run into snags along the way. Without a way to manage master data, departments will grow away from each other rather than together, leading to problems with collaboration that only increase as you go.

Master data management allows everyone to access a single source of data, which means your information will not dilute as time goes on.

Avoids Data Duplication

One aspect of data quality that is often overlooked is duplicate data. When you don’t have a system that can look for and detect duplicate data, you may find yourself with information that gums up the works. With a decentralized data application, you’re more likely to run into redundancy that can take up your time and cause errors throughout the process.

Duplicate data becomes a significant hurdle when you acquire information from customers. Slight changes in your questionnaires over the years may cause customers to enter their information multiple times in slightly different ways. For instance, you may have records that refer to a customer living at 1340 Delta Avenue and another record that lists them at 1340 Delta.

You don’t need both these instances, and it may cause a less intelligent program to assume you have one more customer than you do. When this issue occurs across hundreds or thousands of customers, you’re left with analytics that doesn’t accurately reflect your customer base.

With an MDM solution, you won’t need to worry about duplicate data. Your MDM will scour through data to find repeat instances and remove them, increasing your efficiency.

Reduced Time-to-Market

Setting up new systems is always a headache, right? It doesn’t need to be with a dedicated MDM. Connecting a new system to your primary MDM system instantly populates the new application with all the data it needs to hit the ground running.

Upgraded Decision Making

When all your data is in one place, your teams can make decisions with a clearer picture. Without a master data management system, you can think of this process like putting together a puzzle without the box—you may have all the pieces, but you don’t know the picture you’re trying to create!

As new data comes in, it instantly updates the information across your company. This leads every team to make decisions with all the latest information they need to propel them toward success.

Compliance and Governance

Regarding benefits, “compliance and governance” may not be the most attractive words, but they are some of the most essential words should you want your business to stay strong for years to come. While it may sound more appealing to increase efficiency and reduce your workload (which MDM can also do), you can’t maintain a company without staying in compliance and structuring your systems with governance.

This structure allows you to restrict access to data, giving your employees the information they need to do their jobs effectively while preventing them from accessing data they shouldn’t. All interactions with data are also cataloged, which means it’s easy to trace problems back to their source so you can correct them.

Reduced Security Risk

Extrapolating on this further, MDM tools also assist you in tightening your security. Breaches are extremely serious; if they happen, you can quickly see where the problem began so you can address it.

In all, a business equipped with the right master data management tools stands to work more efficiently and safely than other companies in the game.

Now that you know what master data management is and why it’s important, start the next chapter of your business’s story and begin working in an MDM system. You won’t believe how adding an MDM system to your business pipeline can completely transform how you work!

4 Preparation Tips When Migrating to an Oracle Cloud System

4 Preparation Tips When Migrating to an Oracle Cloud System

by | Nov 28, 2022 | Data Migration, dataZap, Oracle Data Migration

Data migration is a common tactic for companies looking to move up in the world. Outdated data systems cause bottlenecks and can lead to countless missed opportunities. When you upgrade to an Oracle Cloud system, you create a more mobile and effective business. Read on to learn four preparation tips when migrating to an Oracle Cloud system.

Create a Plan

A migration strategy is the first thing you need. While you might think migrating data is as simple as directing data in your old system toward your new one, there’s a lot more to it. In fact, a full transition can take several months! You need to consider everything from migration type (big bang or trickle migration) to data backups and reporting.

Identify Key Performance Indicators

During the planning process, make sure to establish Key Performance Indicators or KPIs. These describe your goals for the migration. What does success look like? You’ll want to think about transition time, the overall cost of migration, and how your applications perform, as well as any other factors you deem important.

Get Your Data Ready

Data from various sources tend to contradict, from minuscule discrepancies to significant differences. Before you start your migration, make sure the data is ready to travel to its new home. Ensure consistent data to avoid inaccuracies and redundancies in the new system.

Train Users

Implementing Oracle EBS data migration takes a while—plenty of time to get your team trained up on how to use the new system. During the long migration, make sure your employees learn the Oracle Cloud system so that you don’t miss a beat when the new system is ready to go. There’s no need for your business to take a backseat during the transition—keep productivity up!

Now that you know these four preparation tips when migrating to an Oracle Cloud system, set yourself up for success! If you follow these suggestions, you’ll be poised to tackle the new system with aplomb.

What Is Data Integration and How Does It Work?

What Is Data Integration and How Does It Work?

by | Nov 28, 2022 | Data Integration, dataZap

The free exchange and use of information is an essential element of any business that requires data in order to succeed. Unfortunately, many businesses of all shapes and sizes have problems because they use different systems to carry out various processes.

This strategy in itself makes sense—you want to use the best applications for finances, platform building, and sales—but these programs don’t always come in the same box. However, when you pick and choose applications across a business, it creates roadblocks between departments and works against the easy flow of data. Read on to learn about data integration and how it works to solve this problem.

Defining Data Integration

Data integration is the process of taking data from several sources and combining everything into unified datasets. This has uses both operationally and analytically, and it is often the first step in a wider data management process.

The objective of integration is to create a set of consistent data that is usable for everyone within your organization. Once all the data is integrated, you can use it to gain valuable insights and solve problems in new ways.

There is no limitation to which industries can use and benefit from data integration—if your company has data from disparate sources, integration can help you consolidate and solidify your strategy. When you have information from more sources, the value of your data skyrockets.

How Does Data Integration Work?

With data integration, there are data sources and target systems. Integration pulls data from various sources and routes them into your target system, performing simple cleaning processes along the way to prevent duplicate or redundant data.

For this reason, data integration is typically more complicated than simply directing numbers on a spreadsheet to move to a larger spreadsheet. A program must scour the different datasets to ensure you aren’t left with unnecessary numbers or inaccuracies. Who would have thought combining datasets could be so tricky?

Data Integration Solutions

Now that you have an understanding of data integration, let’s take a deeper look at the problems integration works to solve.

Big Data

Big data is just what it sounds like—vast quantities of data. You’ll hear a lot of people say, “the more data, the better.” While that sentiment certainly has a basis in truth—if you have more data about your customers, you can better tailor your products and advertisements to them—it comes with its share of conundrums.

The two issues that surface regarding big data are data volume and data variety. A robust system takes care of the volume problem, but variety is still an issue—enter integration. Integration helps you organize and decipher vast quantities of data, no matter where that data comes from.

Semantics

A massive issue with rudimentary integration, or integration without cleaning and consolidation, is that you’re likely to be left with duplicate data. Even simple integration systems can catch exact duplicates, but what happens when different pieces of data describe the same thing in different ways?

For instance, perhaps one source comes from overseas, where dates are listed as DD/MM/YYYY; meanwhile, another source comes from the United States, where dates are written as MM/DD/YYYY. You don’t need both variations, so integration steps in to clean things up. This process makes it easier to recognize patterns and avoid being bogged down with unnecessary information.

Data Silos

Data silos are a thing of the past that we’re still tripping over today. As with many other data solutions, you can see the good intentions of data silos while also feeling frustrated by the problems they cause. Essentially, data silos refer to data sources stored in specific locations.

Say a company has a Toledo branch and a Tucson branch. Each location has its own unique set of data that the larger company doesn’t have easy access to since the data is stored on-site. Integration—especially cloud data integration—can take those unique data sources and bring them together in a way that your entire business can take advantage of.

Accessibility

Why create more work than you need to? The best strategy is to make something once, then deliver it to as many people as need it. One central data source eliminates redundancy and reduces confusion while also promoting collaboration.

Benefits of Data Integration

Now that you’ve seen all the problems data integration solves, let’s consider some of the integration’s benefits.

Reduced Costs

The more processes you can automate, the less your employees will need to work to complete tasks. This opens up their schedules to complete new and different tasks, which means you can continue to pay your employees the same amount while receiving more deliverables. The longer the human workflow, the more you end up paying.

Efficiency

Building on the previous point, this boosts the efficiency and productivity of employees companywide. Where some workers could only focus on basic, busy work tasks, they now can dive into more complex work. This gets your customers the results they’re looking for while providing more fulfilling work for your employees.

Better Data Quality

When you work with clean data, overall quality increases. It’s easy to struggle through data with redundancies and inaccuracies without really realizing what’s happening until a computer signals otherwise. All incoming information is validated with integration, which means you don’t need to worry about creating unnecessary roadblocks for your employees.

Upgraded Decision Making

No good decisions are made based on a lack of information. With integration, you and your employees will have everything needed to make educated choices for your business. This is why integration coupled with data analytics is the ideal team—the easier your data is to parse, the better your insights will be.

Enhanced Customer Experience

No one wants to wait around to get answers. With integrated data, your customers will receive the information they’re looking for without spending a lot of time doing it.

Now that you know what data integration is and how it works, consider adding data integration to your information pipeline. Whether you have multiple data management systems or a single coherent system, the integration will bring all your information together for a prime view of all the information at work in your business.

Why Businesses Should Use RPA To Automate Business Processes

Why Businesses Should Use RPA To Automate Business Processes

by | Nov 28, 2022 | Smart BOTS

The fact that you’re reading about robots doing work humans don’t want to is indicative of the incredible technological strides humanity has made in the last few decades. Only a few short years ago, people would need to grit their teeth and perform this tedious work, but today, that is no longer the case. Read on to learn why businesses should use RPA to automate business processes.

What Is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic process automation, or RPA, is an emerging technology designed to automate the necessary but tedious tasks done as rudimentary business processes. You know the ones we’re talking about—scouring through financial records, cross-referencing names and dates— all the unpleasant, boring tasks.

Software bots become virtual workers that can perform time-consuming tasks instead of devoting your living workforce to these processes.

Quicker Completion of Tasks

Humans are great, but they aren’t as quick to devour data as computers. Staffing costs and resources are a significant consideration of every management team, and RPA allows you to focus your people on tasks where people are still required. As you save money by not wasting the time of your workforce, you’ll also notice that projects are completed more quickly with a robot.

That said, implementing RPA requires a little time up-front to start automated workflows for your bots to follow. However, once the initial investment is made, you’ll see immediate results.

Enhanced Finances

Financial processes are one area where mistakes can devastate a business. Robotic process automation can help your accountants by doing the busy work that needs to get done. From payroll to financial planning, letting your bots complete these tasks will save your company precious time and money.

Upgraded Data Security

Human error is a factor you need to consider as a manager. Robots can’t make human errors—it’s literally impossible. When you employ robotic process automation, your data will stay safe from mix-ups and miscommunications.

Now that you know why businesses should use RPA to automate business processes, upgrade your system with smart bots that can take some of the weight off your employees’ shoulders.

4 Characteristics of a Great Smart Bot Application

4 Characteristics of a Great Smart Bot Application

by | Nov 28, 2022 | Smart BOTS

A good web application builder can be the difference between a functional user interface that your customers enjoy and one that’s so difficult to parse that you lose clients. You shouldn’t need to fight your application builder when you want to make a change—it should work with you. Read on to discover the four characteristics of a great smart bot application builder.

Reliability

An application builder that does precisely what you want it to do 70 percent of the time is not a good one. You want a builder that you can keep returning to and getting the same great results repeatedly. This can mean an app builder that doesn’t crash or one with excellent customer support. Either way, reliability is one of the four keys to a great builder.

Security

Today, data security is of the utmost importance. No one wants to add personal information to a site that may be prone to malicious attacks, so if you use a web application known for weak security, it may affect your sales.

Performance

One of the biggest turn-offs when using a website is slow performance. It’s enough to convince the average user to close the window and find an alternative! Make sure your web app has excellent performance to avoid this outcome.

Usability

User experience is everything in a drag-and-drop app builder. That’s not to say that a great app builder can’t be complex or packed with features, but everything should have its place and be intuitive. When you think to yourself, “I wish I could make this happen,” and the app builder has a simple path to that outcome, you’ll enjoy your experience more while getting the results you want.

Now that you know these four characteristics of a great smart bot application builder, make sure your app builder is as intuitive as you need it to be. It shouldn’t feel like pulling teeth when you try and perform a simple development task—you and your application builder should work in perfect harmony.