by Angela Guess
A new article makes the argument that master data management initiatives need involvement from the top as well as IT departments in order to succeed. The article states, “A lot of MDM initiatives get started by IT departments. Sometimes they are following the external trends and realize that competitors have already or are just about to implement master data hubs. The benefits of such initiatives, like improved data quality and sophisticated applications, seem to be obvious… However, when IT initiates the project and completes the tool selection process and technical implementation of one of the appropriated applications, often the business often does not understand it and won’t use it (or won’t use it correctly).”
It continues, “Support from top management is crucial for any kind of change initiative. This requires first that the related pain points or challenges become visible on top management’s tactical or strategic radar screen, which can be very difficult. They need to understand why they should invest some of their own limited time and part of the company’s budget in this type of project. Business unit managers need to understand impact to their areas and how a resolution of the problem would make it easier for them to achieve the business unit goals. This means that in order to get the support of top management and business unit managers, it is necessary to convey why it is important to run such an initiative.”
photo credit: ElectronicFrontierFoundation
