It’s undisputedly exciting times in the data world, with continual innovations and transformations shaping how organizations approach their data management strategies. In the latest podcast episode from SAP Let’s Talk Data, Bloor Research and SAP explored some of the biggest trends in master data management (MDM) today.

Listen to the full podcast

Let’s summarize the valuable insights delivered in this episode by Andy Hayler, a Practice Lead at Bloor Research, and Markus Kuppe, VP and Chief Product Owner for SAP Master Data Governance.

1. The Era of Data Platforms: One distinctive trend in the MDM landscape is the shift towards broader data management platforms. These include data governance, data quality, and sometimes even data integration aspects, further reinforcing the significance of managing and utilizing master data.
2. Master Data Management in the Cloud: With enterprises transitioning their operations from on-premise to the cloud or semi-cloud environments, it’s critical for MDM platforms to also be deployable in the cloud and have the ability to access cloud-based data.
3. Rise of AI and Automation: The panel emphasized that AI and automation plays a critical role in MDM to ensure high quality as well as decrease manual efforts. They explored generative AI, which could help in tasks such as generating material descriptions for business glossaries, helping users navigate product documentation, and searching for master data intuitively.
4. Federation of Master Data Governance: This concept allows for distributed management of data where core attributes are managed centrally, while attributes specific to applications, regions or business units are managed decentrally.
5. MDM and Data Fabric: The increasingly popular notion of data fabric—an architectural approach designed to connect data across an enterprise without moving it—pairs well with MDM. MDM set a strong foundation of an organization’s most critical business data for a smoother data fabric architecture, making it easier to make sense of scattered data across systems.

The discussion included an emphasis on understanding how organizations can take advantage of these trends to their benefit.

In conclusion, the importance of managing and utilizing high-quality master data in companies’ ongoing digital transformations was reiterated by both experts. We encourage data professionals to listen to the full podcast to hear these intricate insights from the data experts themselves.

Learn more about SAP Master Data Governance and Bloor Research by visiting:

• SAP MDG Product Page
• SAP MDG Community
• Bloor InBrief on SAP Master Data Governance
• Bloor Article on SAP Master Data Governance (Federation)
• Benefits of Federated Master Data Governance (SAP blog)