Cross-channel information sharing is a key differentiator between master data management platforms (MDM), according to a study conducted by research firm Aberdeen Group. The study directly compares the responses of users of both Siperian and IBM MDM solutions and indicates that the former outperforms the latter with regards to certain key performance indicators (KPIs).
Aberdeen surveyed more than 400 end user organisations on the subject of leveraging MDM solutions to improve information integration, access, sharing and management. In the survey, users were asked to identify the approach they had taken or were taking to improve customer growth, revenue and user satisfaction.
While the vast majority of respondents, at 89%, originally opted for an in-house solution, nearly half have since moved to a packaged MDM solution, the report states. The main driver for investing in data management is competitive growth and profitability, at 61%, the report adds. It also highlights a correlation between the approach that institutions take to MDM and the results they report.
Ravi Shankar, director of Product Marketing at Siperian, explains why he believes so many respondents have moved away from in-house solutions: “The in-house solutions were not flexible and therefore unable to adapt to the rate of business change. For example, we are replacing an in-house solution at a customer site because their current solution couldn’t handle the business change to reorient themselves to an account-based selling model. We’ve done such replacements at several other customers. The other reason is cost. The total cost of ownership (TCO) of managing an in-house solution is astronomically higher because MDM is a hard problem to solve and it takes a significant amount of resources to maintain an in-house solution.”
To illustrate the findings, the report compares the top two MDM solution providers as ranked by the respondents: IBM and Siperian. It highlights “subtle differences” between the two that gives Siperian customers “nearly 50% greater improvement in satisfaction from only slightly better data quality”.
