It all begins and ends with Master Data

Throughout our time in the world of technology, there seems to always be one topic that can make or break a project, but often gets tossed aside for its lack of glamour - Master Data. From advising our clients around their tech roadmap strategies, to being in the thick of an implementation, most successes and downfalls of these digital initiatives revolve around attention and commitment to master data. And why’s that? Well without reliable data, compliance cannot be managed and therefore those promised cost savings from any procurement transformation cannot be realized. Automation benefits are also at risk when decisions cannot be streamlined leveraging reliable data either. Now that brings me to the meat of this topic; how do we ensure that data is ready for our digital procurement journey? This is a question that is always on the minds of our clients but not often enough at the center of the discussion or a driving force in decision making. Based on the experience of our Digital Procurement team we’ve put together three key areas where master data can help your project’s speed and success!

1. KNOW YOUR DATA. Although this is a simple thing in theory, knowing your master data is more than just knowing the values in the tables but knowing where gaps or inconsistencies may lie within your data. This knowledge will help avoid any unknowns when implementing new technologies but also will help stabilize any integrations between different technologies. For technologies to speak easily with one another, consistency is key. 
2. START CLEANSING - OR CREATING - NOW. “Why do tomorrow, what can be done today”. Now that you know your gaps or inconsistencies that reside in your data, why wait on addressing these issues? If you wait on starting these activities at the start of your technology implementation, you are already too late. Master data cleansing is never a one time activity, it grows and changes as our organizations grow and mature. Take having to “create” your master data as an example. You may not have in your purchasing data what is being purchased in a consistent way. In this case, the best approach may be to complete a series of market events to reconfirm your supplier base while capturing digitally the catalogue of products and services to enable future analytics and automation. 
3. CATEGORIZE YOUR DATA. Having a clear view of your purchases based on how your supply market views them is critical to forumating your category strategy - from MRO materials to Contingent Labour as examples. These category strategies should also guide how your users interact with your Procure-to-Pay processes - i.e. the spend channels to fully benefits of bringing on these new cloud procurement platforms

We are the masters of our master data yet it is often seen as a result rather than a motive. Knowing master data may not be the most exciting topic, I have no doubt that master data exercises will have monotonous moments and complex discussions but what these exercises reveal will help strengthen your organization’s ability to bring on new technologies and truly realize ongoing benefits across all departments, not just Procurement.

Tune in next month to Angela’s year in review of our 2020 retrospective in #DigitalProcurement and beginning to think ahead on emerging trends in the coming year!