Author: Monika Pürsing, zetVisions AG

Master data management is not usually considered particularly sexy. Yet the management of static basic data or reference data is one of the essential tasks of today's corporate management.

Data are the foundation for reliable decisions - making the insufficient data quality in most companies even more worrying. Comprehensive, effective data management can help.

Companies recognize the importance of data for their business development and have high demands on its use. At the same time, data quality is inadequate and trust in the data is lacking. Effective data management is needed.

Many companies are due to switch to SAP S/4 by 2025. There is a simple way to integrate customer and supplier master data that saves time and money.

The central raw material of the digital transformation is data. Data-driven companies are increasingly faced with the task of actively maintaining and further developing the production factor "data". Above all, they need reliable master data.

In its "Digital Strategy 2025," the German government identifies data as the central raw material of the digital transformation. In the long term, key competencies will lie in the collection, processing and protection of data, as well as in the derivation of concrete measures and methods.

In its "Digital Strategy 2025," the German government identifies data as the central raw material of the digital transformation. In the long term, key competencies will lie in the collection, processing and protection of data, as well as in the derivation of concrete measures and methods.

Industry 4.0, as it is called by the Industry 4.0 platform jointly controlled by the Federal Ministry of Economics and the Federal Ministry of Research, dovetails production with state-of-the-art information and communication technology.

"And every day the groundhog says hello" - the article by Lünendonk partner Mario Zillmann on master data quality in the March issue of E-3 Magazine is involuntarily reminiscent of the title of the U.S. film comedy in which the protagonist is stuck in a time loop, reliving one and the same day over and over again.

The example of Merck KGaA shows how a professional software solution can create the conditions for efficient analysis and effective use of master data.

Not only since the advent of Big Data has data quality been at the top of the agenda for IT managers in companies. Sustainability cannot be achieved here with harmonization and consolidation of ERP systems alone.