Master Data Management in Practice: Achieving True Customer MDM

Implementation

As indicated in the prior section, there needs to be a reasonable amount of planning and design focus before a CDG process is ready to implement. Assuming that due diligence has occurred in the planning and design phases, let's now go through the key components of the implementation phase.

Process Readiness

Once again, there is nothing worse than a new governance council getting out the door only to be caught unprepared in a blind alley. In fact, it is very possible that once the CDG charter is communicated there will be an abundance of data quality and data management issues that emerge, which have been fostering for some time but have previously lacked an appropriate process into which they could be channeled. Be prepared to demonstrate the value and effectiveness of CDG on day one. To do this, the following readiness areas need to be addressed.

Communication of Charter and Implementation Plan

As with implementation of any major business process, there needs to be a communication plan to sufficiently broadcast the purpose and launch of the process. With the charter approved, it should be able to be internally posted and summarized for general communication purposes. Communication of the charter along with the expected implementation dates should come from the Customer MDM executive sponsor or sponsors. The executive sponsors, CDG Council members, and the MDM core team should all be clearly identified in the communication. The communication should also include or ...