What Is Master Data Management?

Master data management (MDM) is the management of the nontransactional data within an organization. The definition of “master” data varies by organization, but can be loosely defined as the nouns that describe all business processes. These nouns might be organization-specific data, like your list of products or employees. Or they might be common reference data provided by an external service provider or government agency, like address information or a Dunn & Bradstreet (D-U-N-S®) number. Although customer and product are the two most commonly managed domains, many businesses find value in managing additional domains, such as wells and fields at big oil companies and recipes at food manufacturers.

When we discuss master data management, we often use the word domain. We use this overloaded word to mean a group of related business data that is an area of focus for a master data management solution—for example, accounts or customers.