Understanding master data

In this section, we will first start with the definition of master data, the need to identify and manage master data, and the different types of master data. This is going to help us in our later discussion of the Golden Record and in the MDM and CRM strategy sections.

So, let's dive right in and define master data.

What is master data?

Master data can be defined as the data that describes the core entities of the business. This can include customers, suppliers, locations, leads, and so on. A good indication of whether a data element is master data is to review its use across multiple business functions, processes, or systems in the organization. For example, leads that funnel into the marketing team, once qualified, will flow down to the sales team. Once a deal has been won, the same lead, which is now a customer, will flow down to sales operations and in this instance, eventually into the ERP's contracts module as a customer. Sharing master...