Mastering Data Management

What happens when an MDM initiative is driven by IT?

Last week, I discussed what happens when an organization is driven to MDM by its business strategy. This week, we’ll discuss the other side of the coin.

About 50% of MDM programs are driven by IT organizations as an IT strategy initiative. This scenario makes building an MDM business case more challenging since typically IT management cannot approach the business case problem with the same level of power and authority as business executive management in the business strategy driven MDM scenario.

IT strategy driven MDM efforts sometimes focus on implementing MDM software and creating the benchmark record. This often postpones (until later phases) the analysis of consuming applications and processes that will be enabled by MDM. This approach may cause problems in relationships with the business, result in end user adoption issues, and can even cause the initiative to fail.

If this view dominates in the enterprise, an MDM initiative can be perceived by many as a massive infrastructure improvement project that requires significant efforts and investments while lacking tangible business and operational benefits. This is a common challenge for many MDM initiatives driven by IT organizations that should be avoided at all costs.

Some even expressed an opinion that MDM initiatives driven by IT are doomed. In reality, many IT strategy driven initiatives succeed if they engage the business side properly and promptly.

Some IT leaders, especially those who spend several years with the company, have acquired a broad understanding of the business and operational issues and are well positioned to champion the initiative.

The challenges of building an MDM business case grow with the number of stakeholders. Different groups of stakeholders see MDM from different angles and approach the funding/no-funding decision with different criteria and agendas.

Thus, individuals responsible for justifying MDM have to approach the task from multiple perspectives and explore a variety of methods to properly validate the business case.

Managers responsible for justifying an MDM business case should have a mindset of a sales person engaged in complex technical sales. The book “Hope is Not a Strategy” by Rick Page introduces “Shark Chart” that describes a variety of stakeholder levels, and roles. The overall approach and methodology in this book is exactly what the individuals responsible for MDM business case and justification should adopt.

Next week, we’ll examine what MDM stakeholders want to know. What has your experience been?

This is part of Larry Dubov's series, Building a Business Case for MDM. Visit the table of contents for any posts you may have missed.