We’ve all seen this…
Meet Jerry. A 42 y.o. insurance agent, married with two kids. He and his wife purchased and mortgaged their house in 2021. Now, look at Jerry’s mail. Jerry’s mailbox is flooded with mortgage solicitations from his bank, ignoring that he already has a mortgage account relationship with the bank.
This is a typical example of a financial institution holding different versions of information or multiple data entries about customers. In the case of “Jerry”, his (the customer) information used by the marketing department of his bank is not aligned with Jerry’s data used by the customer service. In other words, the marketing team is unaware that Jerry is already a customer and that he should not be considered and treated as a sales lead. Imagine this issue replicating over tens of thousands of accounts in hundreds of branches where customers’ information is dispersed and used by numerous departments. Unless the bank fixes this issue, Jerry will probably never get an offer to refinance or purchase mortgage insurance.
This scenario could be repeated at a major investment management company or a smaller, boutique-style firm. The outcome, though, is probably the same for both. Without a proper synchronization of information, issues in customer management processes may lead to significant losses in terms of business performance and customer loyalty.
Financial service firms deal with a lot of data – customer information, portfolios, expenses, statistics, employee records, statements, performance and revenue reports, etc. This enormous volume of data is not only spread across the entire organization, but it is also likely shared with your company’s partners, vendors or customers. So keeping on top of it may be a challenge. Of course, this would be much easier if everything stood still and did not change. But data is changing all the time. So, of course, this applies to other businesses too.
For manufacturers or retailers, dealing with production, storage, procurement, cataloging, inaccurate data, or even a typo within or between different locations presents a distorted picture of inventory and demand. As a result, it can lead to incorrect supply chain decisions where stock products can be over-purchased or overstocked. Or an update made by an accounting department may or may not be seen and registered by the shipping department. Doesn’t it sound like a never-ending battle with volumes of unharmonized data? It’s kind of scary to imagine your business’ critical factors getting out of sync and control. Therefore, efficient handling, storing, and distribution of accurate data is a crucial parameter to the success of your business. This is where Master Data Management can make a difference.
WILL MASTER DATA MANAGEMENT SOLVE ALL OF MY DATA ISSUES?
Yes and no. The answer depends on your Master Data Management (MDM) software choice. The goal of Master Data Management is to deliver consolidation and synchronization to the data, formerly scattered as independent lists or entry points in multiple systems in a company. MDM provides some sort of IT plumbing that connects and aligns various data points of an enterprise seamlessly. It is also responsible for the quality of the data. Therefore, MDM should ensure that the synchronized data is valid and correct and reduce the chances of manual errors and data consistency issues sneaking into your database.
But MDM could be a Trojan horse if purchased as a ready-to-use solution. That’s because of the constant need to seek IT support from a third party that probably services thousands of clients. One should also consider maintenance, system upgrades, and integration costs. However, it would be a different story if the MDM was custom-created and tailored to your business needs because an enterprise must own the success of Master Data Management software. Sprinterra specializes in developing and implementing Master Data Management solutions and guiding enterprises in setting up the business best practices to support them.
Sprinterra is known and praised for simplifying complex data problems and building elegant software to resolve them. We are a committed partner in our client’s success. Talk to one of our specialists and project managers to find out how we can help you optimize your company’s operations and improve efficiency to maximize your business potential. Our engineers, coders, designers, and business analysts deliver on time, within budget, and beyond expectations. With Sprinterra’s custom software development, your company’s productivity and profitability can reach new heights.
Contact us today for an assessment. The next step will be the Proof of concept.