Informatica MDM Focus Day 2019 - In the spotlight: The power of intelligent data
The main focus was on customers. Companies such as Euronics, Alfred Kärcher, and Smart Commerce (fischerwerke) gave a practical insight into their current digital data strategies. From a consultant's point of view and based on best-practice, we showed how IT and business can implement projects efficiently and successfully, which components are essential for a project to achieve its aim and which factors need to be considered. In a special keynote, André Morys (konversionsKRAFT) explained how disruption begins in a customer’s mind and how to pave the way for it.
End-to-end Master Data Management (MDM) is the key to delivering relevant and reliable data and providing a complete view of all data, relationships and transactions. MDM solutions help companies accelerate their growth and give them a competitive advantage. In their introduction to the day's programme, Oliver Schröder, GM & VP Sales EMEA Central of Informatica and Michael Fieg, Managing Director of parsionate, made this perfectly clear. Their opening remarks were immediately followed by the first presentation by Informatica.
Andrew Joss, Head of Solutions & Data Governance EMEA-LA at Informatica spoke of "The role of Data Governance in 360 engagement". Data management is at the core of Informatica’s business, and Master Data Management is deeply rooted in many areas. In his presentation, Andrew Joss focused primarily on the importance of MDM in the context of data governance and compliance for 360-degree solutions. He also touched on the subjects of cataloguing and security, as these areas can also benefit from intelligent data.
Frank Schneider, Chief Executive of the Smart Commerce SE of Fischerwerke, provided insights from a customer perspective. "Front end vs back end infrastructure - Which data infrastructure is required for modern e-business platforms?". Fischerwerke wants to provide multiple, target group-oriented front ends such as websites, mobile apps & applications, dealer portals and DIY shops with the most accurate and complete search results. This is the only way to achieve excellent online support and consultancy. One of the most important prerequisites is the implementation of a central catalogue-search back end with dealer search extension, catalogue Rest Services and PIM-to-Fact-Finder components - a complex project that has been set up by parsionate. Michael Fieg, Managing Director of parsionate, outlined, from a consultant's perspective, the concept of sustainable data architecture and explained how it was implemented using an Informatica tool.
Katharina Kuhnle, Global Customer Master Data Manager of Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG talked about their first steps on their MDM customer journey at Kärcher. In her presentation, she stressed the importance of first carrying out an analysis of the actual data quality to know what is needed to manage the balancing act of trying to meet all data requirements. In the first stage, the company introduced, with parsionate’s support, Informatica’s data quality tool. This allowed Kärcher to gain a better overview of its systems, standardise data cleansing processes and introduce processes that facilitated the handling of customer data.
Raphael Béguin, Head of Business Development of Euronics Germany e.G. presented "Omnichannel at Euronics - Current trends and projects”. Euronics wants to be the "most customer-friendly electrical retailer on all channels". Cross-channel retail is a guarantee for success in a constantly changing environment. However, this entails new capabilities and new requirements for MDM systems. parsionate was Euronics’ partner in selecting an appropriate new solution, the Informatica MDM product 360. For this purpose, parsionate created a 40-page requirement specification including 98 requirements and is currently in the process of implementing the new system. Cross-channel retail is also intended to be the starting point for the implementation of a highly customised CRM system in order to redefine the customer journey and provide better support. Euronics wants to connect the product and customer domain to be able to manage automated marketing campaigns through CRM. In the future, MDM data will be used to enhance purchase information and personalise advertising campaigns.
André Morys, CEO & Founder of konversionsKRAFT in Frankfurt and keynote speaker at the Summit, believes that "Disruption begins in your customers’ mind". His credo is that sometimes a change of perspective is necessary to really understand the processes involved. This is essential if you want to focus on the customer, especially when it comes to the process of digital growth. The basic prerequisite for the ability to grow is an in-depth analysis to identify existing skills and technologies and develop business cases. The right prioritisation and assessment enable you to carry out agile optimisation projects while gaining hands-on experience.
Our presentation was also a change of perspective because at that point we explained the consultants' point of view. Michael Weiß, Head of Strategic Consulting and Thorsten Schremmer, Principal Business Consultant at parsionate, spoke on the subject of "Business value through MDM - from program initialisation to the MDM roadmap". They presented the seven building blocks for MDM projects. The key to a successful project is always to develop an MDM vision and strategy that closely matches the company's business vision. Based on several customer examples, they explained what a digital transformation programme, with its incredibly complex characteristics, is about and how this complexity can be mastered - with the help of master data and data quality management.
At the end of the day, it was clear that intelligent MDM solutions help companies grow faster, improve business results, and gain a competitive advantage. The participants learned a lot about the customers' best practices, benefited from the know-how of experienced industry and solution experts and made new contacts.