Master Data Management Initial Matching

While setting up the Master Data Management match is primarily a Design phase function, it is necessary to at least do some matching during the Discovery Phase.  Doing some initial test matches provides an initial view of the data in match clusters.  These views help determine what data do you need for the import and match, hierarchy levels, and other determinations during the Discovery process. 
 
Also, we find that providing an initial match result helps demonstrate the potential of the Master Data Management system.  While you can talk about it all you want, until you start seeing results, it’s hard to get your head around it.  The initial test match can provide a clearer picture and build enthusiasm that is needed for the project.  With this enthusiasm, you can start to get the commitment and participation needed from the client in order to truly dive into their needs.  Therefore, even before we have completed all of the Discovery documentation, we start with initial match results.

Within our Master Data Management software, SingleVision, we have default match rules for both entity matching and contact matching.  Typically, we start with our default rules for our initial look.  As the Discovery process continues, we start to determine the definitions of the Hierarchy.  Once the hierarchy definitions have been set, the match rules can be adjusted to reflect the determined hierarchy levels. Then, as more and more Discovery is being completed, we further fine tune the initial match.