Companies are improving customer care and corporate bottom lines, and completing business-critical data migration projects faster and more economically, with master data management (MDM)--the creation and management of "one version of the truth." This is true even among business that claim to have no MDM investment plans, according to research reported in "Winning Master Data Management (MDM) Strategies for 2008-2009," newly published by Aberdeen.

"Among 'Best-in-Class' companies identified by Aberdeen Group research, 94% improved on-time data migration project completion, while 88% improved on-budget completion. Among Best-in-Class companies focused on customer data quality, 94% reported improvement in data integrity, 95% improved data usability, and 88% decreased the time required to make data ready for business use. These benefits result directly from investments by these companies in a variety of MDM-related solutions, woven together with business-centric polices and processes," said Michael Dortch, Senior Analyst at Aberdeen Group.

Enterprises succeeding with MDM initiatives combine well-selected technologies with policies and strategies that focus on cross-functional consensus, data accountability and stewardship, well-documented IT roles and responsibilities, and business-centric metrics.

All Best-in-Class companies focused on customer data quality surveyed by Aberdeen Group (100%) invest in data collection, cleansing, and analysis tools, while 98% invest in data process management. Eighty-three percent (83%) employ MDM strategies that assign data quality and accountability to a data steward or manager. And 89% employ customer-related and operational key performance indicators (KPIs), while 84% use revenue-related metrics, Aberdeen research found.

Curiously, additional Aberdeen research indicates that companies claiming to have no MDM plans in place are making many of the same investments in policies, processes and solutions as companies pursuing MDM. However, those companies pursuing MDM initiatives appear to be devoting more effort to effective supporting processes.

In addition to such findings, Aberdeen Group's "Winning Master Data Management (MDM) Strategies for 2008" also features Maturity Class Frameworks to help companies determine their "MDM-readiness," and discusses the impacts of MDM and related initiatives on business and IT infrastructures and organizations.
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