Category: CMDM

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Trends in customer master data management and how Pretectum CMDM supports adapting to these changes

Master Data Management (MDM) serves as a foundational pillar in navigating the complexities of the contemporary business environment.

As organizations grapple with the challenges of managing vast datasets, customer MDM in particular, emerges as a critical solution to ensure the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of customer master data records.

Pretectum CMDM‘s adaptive response to the changing customer MDM landscape comes with some key features and benefits that you should consider when you are looking holistically at CMDM.

MDM refers to the structured processes and technologies employed by organizations to manage their critical business data systematically. MDM encompasses data entities such as customer information, product details, and other core elements that are integral to the organization’s operations but the customer master and customer master data management (CMDM) represents a significant data element that has market and outreach campaigns as a starting point and goods and services delivery accompanied by payments and collections as an endpoint.

The significance of CMDM therefore, cannot be overstated. The efficient management of customer master data ensures that organizations have a unified and accurate view of the customer, fostering informed decision-making and contributing to overall operational excellence.

It is important to therefore define the importance, and current state of CMDM across the enterprise, recognise the challenges faced by businesses in managing customer master data, and the role of technology in CMDM. We can anticipate some of the future trends that will shape the CMDM landscape but ultimately it is about how adaptive measures can and should be taken to align CMDM with emerging environmental trends.

The current state of CMDM is characterized by both opportunities and challenges. Organizations are grappling with the increasing volume and complexity of customer data, facing obstacles in maintaining data accuracy and consistency and remaining compliant. Technology often plays a pivotal role in addressing these challenges and optimizing CMDM processes.

The state of CMDM today is marked by a growing recognition of its necessity, not only operationally, but strategically. Organizations that are actively implementing CMDM solutions can streamline their customer data management, yet they face the ubiquitous challenge of data quality, systems and data integration, and appropriateness of levels of data governance.

Despite the benefits of CMDM, businesses still encounter challenges such as business-unit-based data silos, inconsistencies in data formats, and difficulties in ensuring customer data quality and accuracy. Such challenges hinder the seamless flow of information across the organization.

If an organization takes on technology acts as an enabler for more effective CMDM, then you take advantage of the advancements in technology that can contribute to improved data processing, integration, and analytics. Organizations that leverage technological solutions such as the Pretectum CMDM, to overcome the hurdles posed by the complex nature of master data are immediately at an advantage in sharp contrast to their competitors..

Pretectum Data Governance Wheel
Pretectum Data Governance Wheel

The Future Trends of CMDM must be shaped somewhat by emerging technologies that promise to revolutionize data management. Cloud-based CMDM solutions have already gained prominence, they emphasize the importance of real-time data, data governance, and the integration of AI and machine learning in CMDM processes.

Emerging technologies, including AI and machine learning, are transforming the CMDM landscape. Such technologies enhance data quality, automate governance processes, and provide valuable insights, paving the way for more efficient and intelligent data management.

Cloud-based CMDM solutions like Pretectum CMDM, are pretty prevalent, they seamlessly offer scalability, flexibility, and accessibility without the overhead of on-premise or captive legacy IT . Those organizations that gravitate towards such solutions for centralized and efficient management of customer master data recognise that this aligns with a general industry trend, and position roganizations to more effectively meet their compliance obligations.

Organizations that dismiss customer data governance and stewardship, do so at their own peril. Such topics are gaining prominence as organizations recognize their pivotal role in ensuring data quality, compliance, and security. Future CMDM trends emphasize the need for robust data governance frameworks of customer mater data management, aligning with Pretectum CMDM‘s focus on comprehensive tools for data stewardship, audit trails, and policy enforcement.

These days, AI and machine learning suggest a transformative role in CMDM, offering advanced capabilities in data matching, deduplication, and enrichment. Pretectum CMDM integrates these technologies to empower organizations with enhanced analytics and data-driven decision-making.

We believe that Pretectum CMDM stands as a noteworthy player in the CMDM landscape, offering a centralized solution that adapts to the evolving needs of organizations around customer master data management.

Pretectum CMDM is a robust CMDM solution designed to centralize and manage customer master data efficiently. Its architecture is optimized for real-time and batched data processing, providing organizations with optins for a seamless and responsive platform for customer data management.

Pretectum CMDM demonstrates agility in adapting to the changing CMDM landscape. Embracing the cloud and integrating AI and machine learning algorithms as required, Pretectum CMDM incorporates data quality for data integrity, and focuses on providing an intuitive user experience. Adaptive measures position Pretectum CMDM as a forward-looking solution aligned with future CMDM trends.

Organizations stand to benefit from Pretectum CMDM‘s adaptive features, including enhanced data quality, real-time data processing, and comprehensive data governance. The platform’s user-friendly interface and accessibility across devices contribute to an improved overall CMDM experience.

Consider these key aspects of your CMDM strategy and determine their importance for your organization

Pretectum Schema Management Screenshot
Pretectum Schema Management Screenshot with a Country data domain picklist

Data Minimalism: Your organization should only be collecting the information you need to do business. Are you giving your customers the ability to decide exactly what they want to share with you? According to Forrester, 60-73% of the data that is collected is unused anyway. By focusing on essential data, you can streamline processes and reduce the risk of data breaches. Pretectum support multiple data configurations and allows your customers to tell you what they are happy for you to store.

Transparency and Trust: Per Mckinsey, consumers are becoming increasingly intentional about what types of data they share and with whom and companies that are transaparent about data collection and privacy policies are more trusted. Pretectum CMDM supports self service consent.

Data Security: So much customer data is being transmitted online, that it’s crucial that businesses guard customer data from unauthorized parties. Any security breaches severely impact customer confidence and can affect business revenue despite the perspective that first party data is expensive to own, there are a good many reasons why zero and first party data is superior to second and third-party data.

Consumer Data Protection and Privacy: We already mentioned the growing minefield of privacy and data security regulations that are popping up globally, consumers continue to adopt digital technologies unrelentingly, the data they generate creates both an opportunity for enterprises to improve their consumer engagement and a responsibility to keep consumer data safe. Pretectum CMDM helps ensure that the customer data remains secure by encrypting any data that you capture and holding it safe and secure with appropriate RBAC to ensure no unauthorised access is prossible.

Rethink your approach to customer data management, focus on building trust with customers, ensuring data security, and adhering to regulations. Visit Pretectum to learn more.

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How do we leverage customer data for competitive advantage?

a hyper realistic photo style image of how consumer data contained in a saas cloud platform can generate value-based dividends to the business as a result of the high level of detail and data quality of the data in the saas cloud platform

Organizations can leverage customer data for competitive advantage by creating personalized experiences and tailoring offerings and communications to individual preferences, which increases customer engagement and loyalty.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Effective data management allows businesses to respond swiftly to market changes, adapt strategies based on customer insights, and introduce innovative products or services that align with customer needs; however, all of those ideas and initiatives need accurate customer data. Quality in the customer data is crucial for meaningful analysis and decision-making, whilst proper data management processes improve data quality and resource allocation. So how might you go about getting more advantage? Here are a few ideas for you to mull over.

Building a Custom Customer Data Platform (CDP): Instead of buying a pre-built CDP, CRM, DMP or CMDM solution, organizations can explore the option of building a custom customer data platform, one that allows them to tailor the platform to their specific needs and gain a competitive edge through unique data management capabilities.

The idea of building a Custom Customer Data Platform (CDP) stems from the need for organizations to have a more personalized and effective way of managing their customer data. Such a system aggregates and organizes customer data across a variety of touchpoints and is used by other software, systems, and marketing efforts; collecting and structuring real-time data into individual, centralized customer profiles. 

This would allow for a unique, unified view into customers’ minds and needs. The concept of a custom CDP comes into play when organizations want to tailor the platform to their specific needs and gain a competitive edge through unique data management capabilities. This would involve selecting best-in-class componentry for each layer of the customer data journey.

Building a custom CDP is not a simple task though. To engage in such an undertaking requires It requires clarity on design, the right resources, a deep enough budget, and a considerable amount of time. The benefits of having a custom CDP that aligns perfectly with an organization’s needs might meet or fail to meet expectations.

Foundations of CMDM in the wider organizational systems landscape

Implementing Privileged Insights: The concept of “Implementing Privileged Insights” comes from a Harvard Business Review article written by Ian Kahn, Paul Leinwand, and Mahadeva Matt Mani. 

The authors suggest that companies can gain a competitive advantage by creating and integrating unique and relevant information about customers into their decision-making processes. This way, companies can gain a competitive advantage by creating and integrating unique and relevant information about customers into their decision-making processes, which competitors do not have access to.

This can be achieved by observing and interacting with customers while they use products and embedding privileged insights into existing customer touchpoints. That’s fine if you’re running a webshop, have a mobile app or have the ability to serve up those privileged insights. You’ll still potentially have a data quality problem and you’re still building a custom CDP.

Radically Different Approach to Digital Experience (DX): Organizations can take a new approach to digital transformation by focusing on organizational buy-in, metrics that matter, categorizing the customer, democratizing the data, and leveraging the SEO benefits of personalization. This idea is a synthesis of several concepts in the field of digital transformation and customer experience management.

Composable DX: This concept emphasizes a modular and flexible approach to delivering digital experiences as suggested by CEO and co-founder of Pimcore Dietmar Rietsch. This allows organizations to create custom digital experiences that align with their unique business needs and customer expectations. Such an approach requires organizations to prioritize agility, flexibility, adaptability, effective communication, composable thinking, and empathy toward customers.

Digital Transformation (DX): uses digital technologies to create new or modify existing business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. The need for digital transformation has been highlighted by the disruption caused by events like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Customer Experience Management: This involves providing a seamless user experience, fixing any issues quickly, and understanding and adapting to user behaviors.

In the end, it isn’t about technology or radical ways of doing different things beyond making better use of customer data; most of the time it is about having a better understanding of customer behaviour and preferences, by analyzing customer data. That’s assuming you have the data and it is of good enough quality.

You can gain insights into customer behaviour and preferences with almost any customer data repository but if you want it to help you tailor your products, services, and marketing efforts to meet the specific needs and wants of your customers you need to ensure that the data is broad enough, deep enough and of sufficient grade to meet to analytics needs.

Customer data can also be used to identify inefficiencies in your operations and improve processes. This can lead to cost savings and improved customer satisfaction. Again, the dependency here is the breadth and quality of the data.

By gathering your data on individual customers into unique profiles and storing them in a single location like the Pretectum CMDM, you can match customer interactions with the right contact profile. This in its turn allows you to deliver personalized marketing messages that pique your customer’s true interest.

Superior data analysis can confer a competitive advantage. However, it’s important to note that the data must offer high and lasting value, be proprietary, lead to improvements that can’t be easily imitated, or generate insights that can be quickly incorporated

By embedding a data-led approach in all customer-focused efforts and goals, organizations can achieve customer-centricity by maintaining clarity on customer value, understanding the customer journey, and fostering exceptional customer experiences at every stage. This radically different approach relies heavily on data as a solid foundation for customer success. A CMDM is perfectly positioned to support such an approach.

Organizations can balance the need for data collection with customer privacy concerns by implementing the following strategies:

Gather Only the Essentials: Collect data that is essential for business purposes and inform customers about how it will be used. This in its turn promotes transparency and helps in building a mutually beneficial relationship.

Obtain Consent for Sensitive Information: When obtaining sensitive information from customers, seek their permission before using it. If a customer refuses to provide consent, refrain from using the data.

Data Analysis and Customer Consent: Utilize data analysis to understand customer behaviour and preferences. Additionally, communicate with customers about the intended use of their information, ensuring that their consent is obtained before proceeding.

Understand the Value and Risks of Data: Organizations should comprehensively understand the value and risks associated with the data they collect. This understanding will help in prioritizing data collection and drawing additional insights from the available data.

Establish Clear and Transparent Communication: Communicate clearly with customers, employees, and partners about the collection, storage, and use of data. Respect their preferences and consent, and collaborate with other businesses, organizations, and authorities to share best practices and insights.

Design for Transparency and Trust: You should design products and services with transparency and data privacy in mind. You must provide customers with appropriate value in exchange for data, educate them about how it is collected, and allow them to have control over it.

Not prioritizing customer privacy when collecting data can lead to several potential consequences.

Non-compliance with data privacy regulations can result in severe penalties, including hefty fines. Prioritizing data privacy ensures that businesses adhere to the necessary legal requirements. Failure to comply with data privacy regulations could result in steep fines, potentially costing a company a significant amount relative to sales turnover.

Data breaches and privacy violations can shatter customer trust in an instant. High-profile data breaches have made headlines, exposing the personal information of millions of individuals. Prioritizing data privacy is essential for safeguarding customer trust and maintaining a positive brand reputation.

Not prioritizing customer privacy can lead to financial and reputational risks for businesses. Data breaches and privacy violations can have a significant impact on a company’s financial standing and reputation.

If you recognise data as a valuable asset, you then prioritize data privacy and gain a competitive edge. Failing to prioritize customer privacy can lead to a competitive disadvantage. Failure to prioritize data privacy can result in a loss of customer confidence, leading to weaker relationships and reduced customer loyalty.

Organizations can gain a competitive advantage by leveraging customer data for personalized experiences. Effective data management allows businesses to respond to market changes, adapt strategies, and introduce innovative products.

Building a custom Customer Data Platform (CDP), implementing privileged insights, and adopting a radically different approach to Digital Experience (DX) are ways to enhance data management. Balancing data collection with customer privacy is crucial, involving strategies like gathering only essential data, obtaining consent, and designing for transparency. Failure to prioritize customer privacy may result in legal consequences, loss of trust, and financial risks.

Recognizing data as valuable and prioritizing privacy is key for sustained success and customer loyalty.

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The Integration of Pretectum CMDM in Business Intelligence Competency Centers

Information is a currency in modern business and strategic decisions that are tied to it, can make or break the enterprise.

The relative significance of efficient customer data management cannot be overstated. There has been a sustained surge in demand for business intelligence (BI) tools for years now, and this is a testament to the competitive business landscape, where the ability to access timely and relevant information is essential for good decision-making.

At the center of some, is the Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC). For some businesses, the BICC is a pivotal entity that ensures organizations can deploy BI solutions with sustainability, efficiency, and strategic precision.

Often a BICC operates as a driving force, establishing policies, governance structures, methodologies, and support models that foster just-in-time decision-making. The mandate of the BICC extends beyond mere functionality, encompassing the transformation of insights into tangible assets, thereby providing a competitive advantage and fueling business growth. That’s the theory at least.

We think of the BICC as a cross-functional team within an organization that focuses on promoting and implementing best practices in business intelligence, data management, and analytics. The BICC develops the overall strategic plan and priorities for Business Intelligence (BI) and defines the requirements including data quality and governance, and fulfils the role of promoting the use of BI. Organizations with a BICC claim to have seen increased usage of Business Intelligence, increased business user satisfaction, better understanding of the value of BI, increased decision-making speed, and decreased staff and software costs.

Often there is a significant role played by data warehouses in managing business information. Organizations increasingly recognize that technology as an enabler means more effective information management. Recognition of this underscores the need for a centralized approach to information management that integrates policies, technologies, programs, and people to deliver BI efficiently.

BICCs are a growing trend in industry and are made up of both technical and business experts, they signal a departure from the conventional integration of BI with IT. Instead, a more holistic approach is adopted, where BI experts equipped with technical, analytical, and business skills collaborate with the business to align knowledge strategies with broader business objectives. In some organizations, the head of the BICC is often even part of C-level management resulting in an expectation of higher returns on investment for BI projects.

BICCs can be multifaceted and contribute significantly to the effective integration of BI into organizational processes. From conducting assessments for strategic services to actually implementing BI software, administering systems, providing training, mentoring users, and overseeing development activities, the BICC ensures that every facet of BI is optimized. This optimization, in turn, leads to a better understanding of the value of BI, increased user satisfaction, faster and more accurate decision-making, adaptability to changes, and enhanced collaboration between IT and business entities.

One of the key dependencies for many BICCs is accurate and complete Customer Master Data and systems like the Pretectum CMDM can be of assistance here. A CMDM system will often play a pivotal role in streamlining the process of referencing and analyzing customer data across the organization. The integration of CMDM within any BICC framework ensures that customer data is accessible, timely, of good quality and relevance and s highly suitable to be leveraged for strategic decision-making. Pretectum CMDM, with its advanced capabilities, facilitates the creation of a unified and accurate view of customer information, enabling organizations to not only enhance customer experiences and drive targeted marketing initiatives but also elevate the quality of the output of the BICC.

Integration of the Pretectum CMDM into the BICC ecosystem supports a new dimension of data insights and reporting by unifying the customer data in such a way that organizations can derive deeper insights into customer characteristics, behaviour, preferences, and trends. Such a comprehensive understanding enables businesses to tailor products and services, adjust tactically and strategically and also personalize customer interactions, and ultimately build longer-lasting customer relationships.

The centralized control and standardization of customer data provide greater assurances about customer master data quality, integrity, and consistency across the organization. This, in turn, leads to more reliable and accurate BI outcomes, providing decision-makers with a solid foundation for their strategic initiatives.

Integration of a Customer Master Data Management system like Pretectum CMDM within the broader framework of a Business Intelligence Competency Center elevates the capabilities of those organizations looking to customer data to advance BICC capabilities. Such an approach not only ensures more precise and efficient management of customer data but also amplifies the impact of BI initiatives. Modern organizations must navigate what is now a very dynamic business environment, the fusing of the BICC and CMDM systems holds great potential for unlocking the great capabilities and insights from customer data, driving innovation, and staying ahead of competitors.