Common Master Data Management Pitfalls to Avoid ; Perhaps the most critical pitfall to avoid is the failure to show the value of the MDM initiative to the company.

photo, Jane Griffin

Over the past year, I've written several columns that focused in some way on master data management (MDM). I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, even to myself. The funny thing is, as much as I preach the importance of sound MDM to everyone I meet, the master data problem only seems to be getting worse.

Many of the executives I've talked with recently say their companies are thinking about - or are in the midst of - implementing MDM initiatives to help standardize their master data enterprise wide. However, I'm also hearing quite a few stories about how difficult it is to actually implement an MDM project. For that reason, and because I'm such an advocate of MDM and the potential benefits it can bring to any company, I'd like to address several common pitfalls you're likely to encounter in implementing an MDM project and suggest ways to help avoid them. One of the most common pitfalls I've seen is when companies try to identify and standardize all their master data elements in a single initiative. This "big bang" approach usually doesn't work for any IT project, MDM initiatives included. It often simply causes confusion and makes master data problems seem intractable.

Instead of...