Leaving SA2 Worldsync …

I am leaving SA2 Worldsync. I have worked now for over 6 years in the area of master data management and global data synchronization with SA2 Worldsync and its predecessors.

And I think it was a great time and esp. a great team to work with. And I think we achieved a lot. SA2 Worldsync has become one of the globally dominant data pool players and also one of the leading PIM vendors at least in the retail market.

Thinking back I started all this master data management stuff right back in 1997 when founding Cataloom AG. There we developed successfully one of the first PIM (Product Information Management) / MDM (Master Data Management) Systems. 

And I still remember very vividly myself coding the first database schemas and graphical user interfaces (still very awkwardly looking) for cataloom 0.1.

We were very quickly successfully fulfilling the requirements of our customers like AXA, BASF, Deutsche Bahn, Emaro (the famous eprocurement marketplace joint venture of SAP and Deutsche Bank), Siemens Medical and many others. It was a real fun time, working with a small but enthusiastic team, having all this great ideas and concepts which are still in the product and which are still the base for its success.

In 2005 PIRONET NDH has taken over Cataloom. My personal journey into the world of GS1 and data synchronization started when PIRONET NDH also took over a majority stake in SINFOS the predecessor of SA2 Worldsync. 

Replacing the proprietary SINFOS technology with my previous Cataloom technology and building this great Webforms with online validations was one of my first responsibilities during that time.

Merging with the Agentrics data pool business unit was the next milestone. And this merger was mainly driven by our superior technology. Esp. I think the usability of our Webforms is still leading edge technology and the team keeps developing and improving it.

After that merger I became responsible for looking into our retail customers understanding their master data management processes and to help them to get those processes organized to be able to also leverage the SA2 Worldsync services better.

I think in the last two to three years I worked with most of the leading retailers globally (from Europe over Japan to the US) to understand their challenges in master data management and to work with them on improving those processes, their organization and sometimes also their IT infrastructure.

Right now SA2 Worldsync is not only supporting world’s largest retailers and brand manufacturers but also some of the most advanced GS1 and GDSN communities like GS1 UK and GS1 Australia by providing our technology to them. And not to forget to mention that the SA2 Worldsync WS|PIM product today is run by some of the largest retailers – and right now there are more to come.

I think SA2 Worldsync has been settled right now and achieved a really leading position in the master data management and global data synchronization business.

That is the time to leave for me.

Why?

I am the more entrepreneurial kind of guy. I have to start up something new. Change the world :-) 

I think Cataloom and SA2 Worldsync had some impact. At least the world changed a little bit. Product Information and data synchronization processes became a little bit more electronically. But I think there is still a long way to go to have all business transactions electronically.

That is where I still see a huge potential! So be prepared to see something new coming up which hopefully will really have some impact!

And in the meantime – if you have some requirements regarding master data management consulting, just let me know. I am helping companies globally to put in organisation and processes and IT infrastructure to manage their master data more efficiently.

PS: Stay tuned - this blog will be continued and now I might even have more time to share my thoughts on MDM and GDSN!

How to organise for MDM?

Have you ever thought through how to build an organisation for master data management?

One of the key issues I always find at customers who are struggeling with their quality of master data is that their organisation is not really prepared to deal with master data in a sustainable manner.

In my view Gartner has done quite a good job in proposing a generic organisation for master data management. Actually this organisation implies that you are introducing a new business process - Master Data Management.

Please look at the following orgchart - this is how I remember the generic organisation Gartner is proposing:

The generic MDM organisation

One of the key ideas is that business has to lead the MDM organisation. A quick description of the different roles & responsibilities:

1. The Information Governance Board should consist of executive level sponsors. They should  set and enforce information management policies. In this board you should have representatives from the business - that is key - but you also should have a representation from your IT executives in here.
2. The MDM Team is responsible to manage the MDM program and who authors and maintains the master data. If you are also implementing GDSN or any other means to collect item data from your suppliers the supplier onboarding and communication is also a key task for this team.
3. Data Stewards sit in the business unit and they are responsible for data quality monitoring, improvement and issue resolution. They are NOT maintaining the data themselves but work closely with the MDM Team to get the master data quality on to the level the business needs it.
4. The MDM Infrastructure Team is a kind of virtual team responsible for all aspects of the IT implementation needed for the MDM business process.
5. In the GDSN context I only want to highlight the importance of the Data Modeling and Information Architecture role. If participating in the GDSN this role is key because it is the link to the GSMP process and defining change requests and also anticipating and adopting the changes coming through the GSMP / GDSN.

Please take this organisation template as what it is - only a template. In real life you have to look at your current organisation and see how you can adopt the different roles and responsibilities within your organisation.

But also be aware - you want to introduce a new business process which you did not have in the past.

And if your organisation is multinational or even global I will discuss in one of my next posts what impact that has on the MDM organisation.