GLOSSARY

Master Data Management (MDM)

MDM maintains a single authoritative version of shared entities — customer, product, supplier — governed, resolved, and referenced across all systems.

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Quick answer
Master data management (MDM) is the practice of defining, maintaining, and distributing a single authoritative record for core business entities — customer, product, location, employee — across every system in the organization. MDM is the antidote to the 'we have seven versions of the customer' problem and requires sustained business ownership of match rules, survivorship logic, and data domains.

WHAT IT IS

MDM programs combine organizational controls (ownership, stewardship, change approval) with tooling (Informatica, Reltio, Semarchy, Profisee, Stibo, Ataccama, Microsoft MDS). Architectures range from registry (cross-reference only) through consolidation, coexistence, and centralized (system-of-record) patterns. Identity resolution — deterministic and probabilistic — is core; so is survivorship logic when records conflict.

HOW IT WORKS

Without MDM, every system has its own customer list, product catalog, and supplier hierarchy. Reporting contradicts itself, CRM and ERP fight over records, and AI/ML models train on inconsistent labels. MDM is the foundation that makes CDPs, analytics, and AI work end-to-end.

WHEN TO USE

Stand up or rebuild MDM when duplicate records are material, when M&A or replatforming is creating record conflict, or when regulatory reporting depends on a defensible 'one version of the truth.'

RELATED

SOURCES

Related questions.

What is master data management?
Master data management (MDM) is the practice of defining, maintaining, and distributing a single authoritative record for core business entities — customer, product, location, employee — across every system in the organization. MDM is the antidote to the 'we have seven versions of the customer' problem.
How is MDM different from a CDP?
A CDP focuses on the customer entity for marketing and activation use cases. MDM is broader — it governs the golden record for customer, product, supplier, asset, and other master entities across operational systems (ERP, CRM, commerce, fulfillment), not only the marketing stack.
What tools are used for MDM?
Informatica MDM, Reltio, Semarchy, Stibo, and SAP MDG are the incumbents. Snowflake + dbt + custom stewarding tooling is increasingly viable for companies that prefer a modern data stack. Tool choice matters less than the stewardship model and the match rules.
Why do MDM programs fail?
Because organizations treat MDM as a technology project rather than a business program. The match rules, survivorship logic, and data domains require sustained business ownership. MDM programs led by IT in isolation consistently underdeliver or collapse.
How does NUUN Digital run MDM?
We sequence MDM to the highest-value entities first — usually customer and product — staff the stewardship model before the tooling, and tie every phase to a measurable business outcome. MDM without measurable outcomes is infrastructure spend without return.

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