Earlier this week I attended the MDM Canada Summit in Toronto.  The main conference topics were master data management and data governance with a focus on developing a cohesive view of the customer. One of the interesting points made by Aaron Zornes, Chief Research Officer at the MDM Institute, was that a single view of the customer is incomplete if only coming from structured data sources. Consequently organizations need to capture information stored in CRM records, emails, etc. as well as information identified in transactions.  Even though this seems obvious, certain companies that attended the conference and that are supposedly on the road to MDM are still known (based on the fact they are Canadian service providers – banking, telecom, etc.) as being far from providing their customers with the value added customer service that is associated with successful MDM initiatives.

It seems like organizations’ MDM is paved with good intentions but that many businesses are still struggling with how to move to the next level towards integrating data governance through business process and policy integration with master data management initiatives and concepts. As mentioned at the conference, because technology is so advanced and consumers can get what they want when they want it, the way any organization differentiates itself from the pack is through providing more value to customers through the relationships they build and service they provide.  To just compete on price, or to offer extra incentives, may get a customer to initially try a service or product, but will rarely keep them satisfied.  Consequently, successful MDM initiatives, coupled with data governance offers businesses the first step of giving their customers better service and tailoring offerings to individual needs.  The role of unstructured data will only continue to increase as businesses looking to move to the next stage within their MDM lifecycle look at ways to adapt to the needs of their customers in an ever changing market place.