Mens Et Opera - Reloaded

The question of whether PIM is an “MDM use case” or an “ECM use case” (ECM stands for Enterprise Content management), or a combination of both (as usual) has become the topic du jour in certain parts of the blogosphere. I am glad that I’ve contributed to raise awareness around this topic with my series of posts ( here , here , here , here for an introduction). Let me try to visualise these two worlds. Let’s start with MDM. The much respected Henrik Liliendahl has a nice diagram to exemplify the MDM world. Quick digression: As you probably know, Gartner is now revisiting their MDM quadrants to be more use case driven…yes, in 2016. Better late than ever ;-) This is how the MDM world works: you have multiple domains e.g. Customer, Products, which have different processes attached to their lifecycle. For example, products go through a “making” and “selling” process while customers “making process” is a completely different beast and the entire lifespan of a customer follows separ...

In my last post I proposed to see PIM from at least two distinct standpoints. The first is the traditional view of PIM as part of the broader MDM family. The second, I argue, is an emerging trend that see PIM as an element of a broader marketing platform.  This will be part of a forthcoming white paper I am working on for HubDesigns .  For the time being, I thought it would make sense to spell out a few things about data and content to help understand the point I made in the previous post. This is an interlude between the previous posts on this topic and the next one that will conclude the series.  Remember, PIM as "an MDM use case", to cite Andrew White,  tends to be engineered around data optimization, while PIM as a "Content Management use case", tends to satisfy the appetite of marketers (details are here and here ). Data and Content Data is the mechanism to 'register' what happens in the world. This can take various forms. For insta...

In the previous post , I offered a view to look at the PIM marketplace. From retailers and manufactories perspective, PIM has become a necessity to meet fast paced customer demands. The vendor marketplace, on the other hand, is getting crowded to meet the increasing demand. In that post, I also provided a few criteria to make sense of different vendor offers. In this installment and the next, I intend to articulate a further criterion, or a standpoint to look at the PIM market. Let me first summarize what we have so far: Some PIM vendors are traditional, some emerging, some disruptive (less than a handful) Vendors tend to primarily focus on one target company size, i.e. enterprise, medium, and small companies Finally, a practical way to group vendors is by the kind of use cases they are primarily designed for, e.g. emphasis on buying or selling side processes, marketing content, merchandising support, channels, etc. From (1) one deduces that the market has bee...

For readers who might be interested, I thought it would be useful to gather together in one place links to various posts on what PIM is. Like much of what you'll find on this blog, these posts focused on PIM as a strategic business application to help retailers and manufactures take control of all the individual data points and business processes that support their product information across the value chain. On to the posts. Why PIM is disruptive Top reasons for PIM investment .  The right PIM within an organization . PIM: silos breaker ! Consider PIM when (re)defining your Direct-to-Consumer model  Heavy Meta. The role of PIM in turning data in information. MDM and PIM demystified Guest interview with CEO of Actualog Guest interview with Jorij Abraham Capgemini on Product Information Management .  Enjoy!

This is a second round of a series of posts regarding the difference between PIM and MDM. In the first installment , I briefly highlighted the “functional” differences by emphasizing the consolidation of data (e.g. create the golden record, identity resolution, data quality, etc.) across the enterprise to feed transactional systems with “good” data as the primary target of MDM initiatives while PIM fills the need to author product-related commercial data to feed customer touch-points  such as catalogs, web shops, and so forth. Granted, very high level strokes but I reckon a good beginning for a marketing-free conversation about PIM and MDM. In fact, I want to start this second round with a note of appreciation. I really like Michele Goetz’s MDM and PIM insights over her blog at Forrester (great name, no relation and much better looking!) Now, the same Michele Goetz recently posted a brief piece to introduce the new Forrester report about PIM . Michele aptly points out th...

I recently came across an interesting executive summary of a report conducted by Capgemini involving 62 global leading online retail and consumer products (CP) companies in the grocery category (it’s a bit dated but I think still pertinent). The aim of the research was to “evaluate how visible and consumer driven the product data is in retailers’ and CP companies’ digital channels.” The research finds that in many cases the “digital product information provided to shoppers is inaccurate, incomplete or missing entirely” which doesn’t perfectly square with the need for rich consumer-oriented product data, driven by the explosion of digital channels. According to the report, the key step to provide better information and enhance the dialogue with shoppers is to “improve the visibility of product data in digital channels.” This resonates with me greatly. However, the question is “how?” That is: How to make product content relevant and consistent* across all channels?   The fol...

OK there is a big difference between MDM and PIM. Apparently not everyone agrees.  Regardless, things can become even more confusing when analysts, vendors, consultants, and academics all give you their perspective on what MDM and/or PIM really is. I know it’s hard to sort through it. But let’s try to keep it very simple. Note 1 : my apology to the experts to leave out important aspects Note 2 : I took inspiration for the example below by reading "Master Data Management", written by the well-respected David Loshin. Now, take the following transaction from a generic order fulfillment system: I am sure you have identified the three master data domains in this transaction: Customer: Michele M. Arpaia Product: Seat 15B (what about Flight 238?) Location: Sydney, SYD, Melbourne, MEL Can you see the beauty of MDM? Ideally, every transaction (occurring everywhere in your organization) relies on accurate, consistent, fresh, and complete master d...

An IBM study found that 90% of customers want better personalisation, and are willing to spend 20 minutes to set up their information to help retailers give them a better experience. However, the same study discovered that less than a third of retailers are able to make the most of this. Interestingly, a recent survey conducted by Capgemini reveals a thorny truth that many Australian retailers won’t like to hear. Few excerpts: Relationship building (Relational aspects) is the most under-utilised dimension. The potential for generating customer intimacy and brand loyalty is currently unexploited by Australian retailers and has created a Relational Gap. The true power of relational digital commerce lies in combining established web personalisation techniques with advanced big data analytics to create effective, scalable solutions. Since it is impossible to scale a business model that relies on one-to-one human contact, digital mass personalisation aims to both individua...

We are all used to the typical consulting lingo. Personally, I am in the process of a healthy recovery :-) but nobody takes offense. It shows an effort to get to the point quickly. Unfortunately it fails 99% of the time (see here if you want to learn more :-). On the same note, but hopefully more effectively, there's a large vocabulary being developed around "data"- often unwittingly - that is worth looking at. Take this nice piece from Forbes . The key thing here is that data is seen as the new oil (or black gold for that matter). Arguably, data is becoming a new currency and the effort to put a "value" on data is remarkable (and probably necessary. We will return on this concept at some point in the near future). But is it really? Interestingly, as Gary Burnison  pointed out , "more data does not mean the right information. It just means more information." And this is a good point if you consider that the value of data resides more in its extrins...

I am heavily in pre-sales mode at the moment, but before long I will be writing up few installments of the role MDM in relation to the various areas affected or enabled by it.  In the meantime, let me share few links to blogs that I regularly read:. Like it or not, Gartner is a required-stop for all the MDM stuff. I follow Andrew White very keenly.  If you are a data quality wanna-be expert don't miss out on Mr Henrik Liliendahl Sorensen .  David Loshin is the author of a fine book (which I highly recommend. See also the companion web site here ). He is president of Knowledge Integrity Inc., a consulting company specializing in intelligent information managements solutions. His short and to the point essay " Busting 7 Myths about Master Data Management " is worth your attention. Although with a broader approach in mind, Loraine Lawson comments are always an excellent perspective. If you don't know about the MDM Institute, you should. Find out ...