INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Software for Business
MDM – Beyond just a data
management tool
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When data management meets
data virtualisation, businesses
can start making real decisions.
The continued application explosion is
creating a hot bed for customers looking to
better manage the data that these apps are
creating. While not new, the pervasive use
of master data management (MDM) is on
the rise and South African businesses are
according to TechSoft International, looking
to MDM for more than just a management
tool for Big Data.
The application of MDM rose from the
business need to have more consistency in
data, with specific reference to the quality
of data assets including product data,
asset data, customer data and location as
examples. But the push to the cloud and the
sheer volume of application data available
today are the primary catalysts for a change
in ‘data thinking’.
Clinton Scott, Managing Director at TechSoft
International, said: “Much like every country
in the world. South African businesses have
to tiptoe through a host of regulatory and
compliance requirements relating to their
data. But that said, Big Data has until
recently, been a discipline that only the
banks and the JSE’s top 50 managed to get
on top of.
consecutive year been named a leader in
Gartner’s 2020 Magic Quadrant for Master
Data Management Solutions.
With an effective MDM solution a business
can take fragmented data from multiple
source systems and manage the flow,
destination and source of this data. But
MDM on its own is just a management
tool, which is why TechSoft partner TIBCO
is now throwing data virtualisation into
the mix. Now when you add the ability
to attach ownership to data and create a
single referenceable point for it through
virtualisation, you can start to leverage
and apply advanced analytics to support
business decisions and insights.
According to Scott, there are also a number
of industry factors driving the need for
better data management. Not least of
which is an explosive IoT market among
local manufacturers and engineering firms,
not to mention the need for more consumer
centric data demanded by retailers who are
under huge pressure as a result of reduced
consumer spending.
It is important to note that MDM is not an
analytics platform. It is the foundation of
good data governance and management
that then opens up the pathway for a
business to conduct.
Scott said: “What makes TIBCO being
recognised as a leader in MDM so
important, specifically for the TIBCO EBX
solution (a component in Unify), is that
it boasts capabilities for MDM, metadata
management and data virtualisation.” •
“With the entrance of the hyperscalers, a
growing cloud appetite, the use of AI and ML
and a surge in the development of bespoke
born in the cloud apps, data management
has once again become a conversation
around the boardroom table.”
The exclusive territory partner of TIBCO
in Sub-Saharan Africa, TechSoft is in
an enviable position to understand the
importance and need for MDM, as TIBCO
recently announced that it has for the fourth
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