Introduction

The concept of enterprise data management (EDM) has obviously been around for a while, but recently the idea of centralizing master data and developing standardized processes around it is a newly branded concept for SAP. With the new tool, MDM, businesses are changing the way in which they work with master data, from both a process perspective and a technical perspective. I have been working with the SAP MDM tools for quite some time now, and I’ve been working with master data for even longer. I’ve noticed that as the demand for MDM has increased, so has the curiosity among the technical community. The SDN and SAP help pages have plenty of good information, but there aren’t a whole lot of other places to find documentation and lessons learned.

I have decided to start this page to serve partially as a technical journal of the issues that I encounter within the EDM domain at work, as well as a “tips and tricks” page for others. I’m also hopeful that I can meet other people who are interested in working with MDM and other master data technology. I have previously written blogs on the SDN, and a blog series that I wrote was even featured on the MDM home page on the SDN. However, when I write on the SDN I feel as though I must conform to a certain standard, and I can’t add a certain personality to the posts. For this reason, it’s a good idea for me to start a separate page that I can use to write whatever I feel. Aside from discussing issues that I’ve encountered, and posting MDM tips, I also would like to discuss general EDM philosophy here, which is something I feel rather awkward about on the SDN. I have been thinking about starting a blog such as this for a while, but stopped myself because I didn’t want to admit that I’m interested in what I work with. However, I’ve given in and come to the realization that there is no escaping the fact that I am indeed a geek. Unfortunately, there’s no hiding it, so I may as well write about the stuff that I like doing.

MDM is one of the trickiest components of a SAP landscape to work with, because finding good resources can be a difficult process for companies. From my experience, there are two types of people that get into MDM. First, there are the old school MM (materials management) and SD (sales and distribution) functional consultants who have worked with master data for many years. Now that many clients of SAP are finding a major benefit in centralizing their master data and going through a harmonization process, many of the MM and SD consultants are learning MDM to help their clients. The other type of people that I’ve seen working with MDM is technical folk who just want to learn the new tool. The functional consultants often have a hard time adjusting to MDM because while they are used to doing hands on configuration work, few of them have experience with real techie topics such as interface development, or programming logic. Alternatively, the technical folk that get into MDM have a difficult time because the whole purpose of MDM is to serve as a tool for the EDM process. For this reason, you really need to know a lot about the types of data you are working with, and how it trickles down into the touch points within the business. Techies rarely have this understanding, so it’s difficult for them to be well rounded as a MDM consultant. So MDM really is a lacking skill set among the SAP community right now. In order to bridge that gap I think it’s very important to meet new people who are working with the technology and gain experience from others. That is another main reason for starting this blog. I want to meet new people, learn from them, and hopefully give something back as well.

I suppose that’s enough of an introduction, I look forward to speaking with anyone who reads my blog and is as interested in EDM as I am.