In physics, antimatter has the same mass, but opposite charge, of matter. Collisions between matter and antimatter lead to the annihilation of both, the end result of which is a release of energy available to do work.

In this blog series, I will use antimatter as a metaphor for a factor colliding with a master data management (MDM) matter that not only annihilates it, but also prevents a release of energy needed to make MDM work.

I call these factors the antimatters of MDM.

Bringing systems together, but leaving people apart

The business goal of an MDM implementation is to provide the enterprise with a single version of the truth for master data entities (parties, products, locations, assets) by maintaining their best data representations.

As Steve Jones recently blogged, “if everything was in one big system with a single database then you wouldn’t really need MDM. You need MDM because you are attempting to join across systems and business units. So the real value from MDM is that cross reference that tells you who the customer is and where all the information about them lives in the various systems. So this is how you sell MDM to the business, as something that will enable the business to better collaborate and function more effectively.”

“More and more business is about collaboration, both internal and external,” Jones explained. “As the need to digitally collaborate with partners and customers increases so the business value of that MDM cross reference increases. MDM is about enabling collaboration. Collaboration is about the cross-reference. MDM is the Rosetta Stone that enables people to collaborate, so focus on collaboration.”

It doesn’t matter how powerful your MDM technology is because collaboration is people-powered. While MDM does the cross-referencing of the systems, people do the collaborating. Collaboration is key to MDM success, so don’t bring your systems together but leave your people apart.