This announcement highlights a requirement shared by many global businesses: to tackle the problem of integrating external and internal data into a single, trusted source. Although the current implementation is quite limited in domain scope (it focuses only on customers), in developing this tool to support data stewardship, Initiate is one of the first vendors to begin to converge and link operational master data management (MDM), which synchronizes master data at the operational systems level, and analytic MDM, which supports business intelligence and analytic requirements. Ventana Research believes this is a move in the right direction. To take hold, however, it will have to be extended to other related master data domains, such as product, vendor, people, and time and calendar. And we wonder whether this project foreshadows a future focus by Microsoft on MDM.
Ventana Research recommends that customers who have a strong need to manage customer and organization data in both operational and analytic MDM consider this approach from Initiate Software. Organizations that seek a more comprehensive approach to master data management should survey the wider market before making a final decision.
Dr. David Waddington is co-founder and senior vice-president of The Information Difference Ltd., a London-based analyst firm that focuses on MDM. Waddington advises corporations as well as IT vendors on data management strategy and architecture. He has worked previously as a vice-president and research director at consulting firm Ventana Research and as chief IT architect for Unilever’s two food products groups in Europe.
