Summary

It is a tenuous road to reach a 360° view of the customer. Probably the most important lesson to learn is that a lot of information does not necessarily translate into intelligent information. Obviously, data needs to be collected, but it doesn't end there.

It requires a solid customer data integration effort to bring disparate and fragmented data together. Once data is integrated, it enables the application of data quality disciplines to correct disparities, resolve entities, and finally achieve a single view of the customer.

The single view of the customer is utilized to connect the many relationships a given customer has established across all stages of the purchase cycle, and finally reach the elusive 360° view. Hierarchy management adds another dimension to the maintenance and intelligence aspect of the customer relationship, enabling the organization and segmentation of information for increased benefits.

Finally, all these activities require proper coordination and proper establishment of roles, responsibilities, and ownership. Therefore, the disciplines of data governance and stewardship become essential components to successfully achieve the holy grail in the Customer MDM discipline, which is the customer 360° view.

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