What Type of Master Data is Managed by Sales & Marketing?
Product and Services information is highly valuable master data for Sales & Marketing departments because it provides the “who, what and where” of the sales cycle. It is also the most complex data since it defines how a company differentiates itself in the market. For example, a product catalog is more than just a simple hierarchy of product references arranged in categories. A comprehensive product catalog describes complex attributes, business rules, and inheritance relationships in order to extensively model product characteristics, pricing and packaging. This information is also widely shared by teams and IT systems. One single product attribute can be consumed by multiple ERPs, sell-side or buy-side systems, or business intelligence reporting solutions.
In addition to product information, Sales & Marketing departments also need to manage large sets of master data that define locations such as sales territories, fixed assets including Point of Sale information, and the sales channel (i.e., partners, vendors or customers). When linked, this data resolves conflicts between multiple data sources and serves to form a global definition of the Sales & Marketing master data landscape.
Sales & Marketing MDM Requirements
» Ability to model complex product attributes, rules and relationships
» Ability to define inheritance rules between data
» Ability to model any type of master data, not just product information |
Why is MDM a Critical Solution for Sales & Marketing Teams?
Managing data through a single point of governance is key to a company's success as products gain in complexity, regulatory requirements become more stringent and channel synchronization is required for success.
Reducing Time to Market with Faster Product Introductions
Mastering product information through one central solution means faster time-to-market for new products. Product information is typically dispersed in different ways through ERP systems (global and local instances), custom applications by product line, or even in spreadsheets managed by individual product managers. A centralized MDM solution allows enterprises to "decouple" product information from existing systems and provide Sales & Marketing teams with a single interface for defining and maintaining complex catalogs. By using a flexible MDM solution companies have reduced new product launch times from months to weeks or days.
Sales & Marketing MDM Requirements
» Ability to create new products using a collaborative workflow
» Ability to enter new product data using a simple User Interface (UI)
» Ability to synchronize master data with all IT systems |
Sales & Marketing Teams Have More Than Just Product Data to Manage
Sales & Marketing teams use different solutions to manage different types of master data. Typically, product information is managed within a PIM (Product Information Management) solution or an ERP system, while other data such as parties or locations are managed elsewhere. This siloed approach to information management results in inconsistencies in master data and the inability to enforce strong integrity controls across data domains. A multidomain MDM solution that manages all the master data required by Sales & Marketing provides the optimum result -- a single point of governance. For example when a company creates a new distribution channel or store location, a multidomain MDM solution allows them to quickly reallocate products from one channel or store location to another.
Sales & Marketing MDM requirements
» Ability to model any type of master data (products, locations, parties...)
» Ability to enforce integrity controls between all master data
» Ability to dynamically add new data and rules |
Consistent Master Data = Improved BI = Accurate Reporting
Sales & Marketing departments use BI (Business Intelligence) solutions extensively for analyzing sales in many dimensions and forecasting revenues. Without a unique definition of master data business intelligence solutions consume inconsistent data that can lead to low quality reports and inaccurate forecasts. An MDM solution helps improve the quality of master data before it is consumed by BI. In addition to core master data such as products, parties or locations, a Sales & Marketing MDM solution applies the definition of reference data that is specifically used in BI such as KPIs, dimensions or classifications.
Sales & Marketing MDM Requirements
» Ability to maintain complex dimensions and hierarchies
» Ability to define and maintain reference tables for BI
» Ability to manage multiple versions (past, present and future) |
Multichannel and eCommerce Enablement
Today companies are selling their products through a variety of channels, including brick & mortar stores, resellers, white-labeling partners or eCommerce websites. With multiple channels, accurate and consistent product catalogs, pricing policies, product customization and category management are required. A flexible MDM solution allows you to maintain a unique product definition for each context such as regional pricing or suppliers and, without duplicating information, it enables "mass-customization" of products for all channels. This capability ensures long-term consistency of data across each context in which it is used.
Sales & Marketing MDM Requirements
» Ability to manage channel master data
» Ability to define inheritance rules between channels
» Ability to customize master data for each channel - Ability to delegate user permission by channel |
Localizing to Meet Market and Regulatory Requirements
Large multinational companies face the challenge of maintaining a global product catalog as well as customizing offerings for each country or region. A single product that is marketed globally must be localized in different languages, rebranded/named for specific countries or reconfigured for local policies, regulations or market requirements. MDM allows you to adapt product definitions without duplicating the information and to maintain one unique master catalog that can be used for consolidated reporting.
Sales & Marketing MDM Requirements
» Ability to link products to locations, countries, regions
» Ability to define inheritance rules between global and local levels
» Ability to localize master data in any language
» Ability to enforce strict validation rules and audit trails for compliance |
Enterprise-wide Data Governance
Sales & Marketing departments collaborate and share master data across the entire enterprise. Here are some examples: new products introduced by Sales & Marketing will be linked to Accounting structures; a new cost center will be attached to a Human Resources geographical hierarchy; a new point of sale will be linked to an organization structure owned by Finance and to an employee hierarchy owned by Human Resources. Each example illustrates why Sales & Marketing teams must be part of an enterprise-wide data governance initiative with comprehensive change management and cascading approval processes.
Sales & Marketing MDM Requirements
» Ability to configure change management and cascading approval workflows
» Ability to provide any end-user with a simple workflow UI without training
» Ability to define fine-grained access rights |
What Solutions are Available for Sales & Marketing MDM?
Companies have historically struggled to manage all master data owned by Sales & Marketing in one single solution. Typically, the solutions marketed by well-known technology brand names have been limited to product information--mainly for Retail--or to business applications such as ERP.
PIM (Product Information Management) Solutions
PIM solutions such as IBM MDM Server for PIM have been available for many years. Originally developed as product catalog management tools for the retail industry, these solutions have not evolved enough to provide a true multidomain platform for all master data owned by Sales & Marketing. PIM solutions are limited to product information and not designed to handle non-standard, complex products and services because of their lack of semantic data modeling capabilities. In addition, beyond product information, PIM requires costly custom developments for managing other master data such as locations, assets or parties.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
ERP solutions such as SAP are still widely used by Sales & Marketing teams for master data reference typically because they are the point of entry for new data. However; where ERP solutions fall short in managing complex master data is with their fixed data models. As a result, users may resort to duplicating information in spreadsheets or custom developed solutions. All of which contribute to inconsistencies in the product, location, party and asset master data required by Sales and Marketing teams.
Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets are still one of the most widely used solutions by Sales & Marketing for managing master data. While flexible enough for end users they lack critical data governance features such as collaboration, validation controls, security or sharing. Even when coupled with an enterprise portal, the duplication and manual governance processes inherent in the use of spreadsheets invariably cause extensive inconsistencies and errors in operational and analytical systems.
Custom Developed Solutions
Generally companies invest in their own custom MDM solutions when off-the-shelf software does not sufficiently address their needs. While custom development enables a company's specific requirements to be met, it typically results in a rigid and costly solution with lower adoption rates. Custom solutions have difficulty managing flexible data models and business rules. They rarely include sophisticated features such as version control or workflow or offer the flexibility to scale to meet enterprise-wide data governance requirements.
Introducing Orchestra Networks EBX5 Solution
Orchestra Networks™ EBX5 is the first Master Data Management software to provide Sales & Marketing teams with all the features they need for true data governance in one single software solution. The product offers a 100% web-based user interface and enables Sales & Marketing teams to build a single point of governance for all master data.
Discover The Top 5 Benefits EBX5 Delivers to Sales & Marketing Organizations |
Download our Solution Overview