A Comprehensive Overview of Informatica MDM

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By: Manish Shewaramani

Informatica MDM - A Comprehensive Overview

Effective data management is the key to success in today’s fast-paced business world. Companies must understand how to utilize platforms like Informatica MDM for optimal results.

The software provides a complete and unified view of critical aspects such as customer data and product details, empowering organizations to make informed decisions that improve customer experiences and drive new opportunities, and positive outcomes for the organization.

Informatica MDM has become an essential tool relied upon by organizations worldwide for its ability to help businesses gain comprehensive perspectives on their most valuable data assets.

To leverage the benefits of Informatica MDM, it is important to delve into the finer details of this powerful tool.

What is Master Data Management (MDM)?

Master Data Management (MDM) is a process that involves consolidating and maintaining accurate records of individuals, places, things, and other entities within a business. This is achieved by gathering and merging relevant information from both internal and external sources, including various applications.

The resulting master data undergoes intensive scrutiny for duplication, rectification, and enhancement to ensure accuracy and consistency.

Once the master data has been established, it serves as a trustworthy representation of critical business data that can be accessed, managed, and shared across the organization.

It promotes accurate reporting, minimizes errors, eliminates redundancy, and enables workers to make well-informed business decisions based on reliable information.

To explore more about the MDM, you must visit What is Master Data Management (MDM)? that facilitates you with all essential aspects related to the technology. Also, Don’t miss seeing Master Data Management – An Ultimate Guide to explore the hidden potential of the MDM platform.

What is Informatica MDM?

Informatica MDM is a sophisticated data management solution that streamlines and secures business data using a variety of methods.

Its primary objective is to serve as a centralized point of control to enable crucial business decisions. The process begins with data cleansing, followed by transformation and integration, and includes data repair and enrichment as well.

The focus of Informatica master data management is to safeguard business data from all potential risks during the vulnerable stages of data transformation and integration between different software applications.

The platform utilizes advanced data cleansing and repair techniques to minimize the possibility of errors and inconsistencies.

Key Capabilities of Informatica MDM

  • Informatica MDM has a neutral data model that can be configured to meet specific business needs.
  • The solution is metadata-driven and rules-based and comes with a configurable framework.
  • Informatica MDM supports dynamic cell-level survivorship for maintaining the most accurate and up-to-date information.
  • Advanced data cleansing and transformation features allow for enriching source data through various functions, custom procedures, and user exits.
  • Out-of-the-box integration with third-party data providers, such as D&B and Acxiom, enables matching common records within the user interface.
  • Hierarchy management features allow users to define and configure business rules for data cleansing, matching, and merging.
  • Security Access Manager (SAM) enables users to create rules for data access authorization and sensitive details masking.
  • Informatica MDM supports real-time, near real-time, and batch-mode synchronization with source systems.
  • Unified customer views can be integrated with business processes through browser applications for real-time and near-real-time decision-making.

Why Informatica MDM?

Informatica MDM solution facilitates business processes in many ways. An organization can able to achieve high performance, easy maintenance, and error-free handling of data through the MDM solution provided by Informatica.

Apart from that, here are some key benefits an organization can get through the deployment of the Informatica MDM.

1. Business Integrity

Master data management in Informatica provides a reliable data ownership framework that promotes accountability and responsible data sharing. With this solution, businesses can establish an integral and trustworthy data management system that identifies data owners and their respective responsibilities.

2. Standardizing Data with Informatica MDM

Informatica MDM offers comprehensive data standardization features that support enterprise-level and data-at-rest or in-transit standardization. The solution enables businesses to standardize data accurately and thoroughly, including data cleansing, a critical step for ensuring data accuracy.

Furthermore, Informatica MDM facilitates transforming raw data into usable formats for various analyses, enabling businesses to derive meaningful insights from their data.

3. Data Governance

Data governance is crucial for any business to manage its valuable asset – data. MDM in Informatica provides a robust framework to create a sound data management plan that sets priorities and accountability around data sharing.

4. Data Metadata Management

Metadata management is an essential component of data management that helps organizations protect and safeguard their data. With Informatica MDM, managing data metadata is easy and hassle-free.

The solution offers rich metadata that can be leveraged for data analytics and searches, making it a key database component that enables many critical functions. The importance of metadata in data management cannot be overstated, and Informatica MDM makes it simple and accessible for businesses.

This comprehensive framework guarantees data integrity, thanks to its enterprise-wide management policies that ensure high-quality information for users.

The framework includes Data Analytics functionality and standard tools such as Excel and Data Analyst to help transform and analyze data. Additionally, there are various data management options available within the framework.

The data governance system is highly scalable and boasts excellent performance across web, mobile, and social platforms. Its XML interface or SOAP API allows for seamless scaling. Additionally, sensitive information remains secure thanks to its encrypted cloud connection.

This solution, offered by an established vendor, fully supports Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) and significantly accelerates data processing.

The platform boasts advanced data management capabilities and flexible architecture, making it highly versatile for various needs.

Efficient data warehousing requires centralized data storage, replication in Data Integration centers, and efficient storage in data marts. These components work together to ensure effective management of large datasets and streamline the process of business intelligence.

Informatica MDM Process Steps

In the recent past, the MDM system has been one of the most popular products among industries from various verticals. The MDM solution provided by Informatica offers various benefits to organizations by understanding the requirements.

Informatica MDM Process Steps

Here are the steps, which describe the MDM process in detail.

1. Land

To begin the data processing, the first step is to download the input table files from external sources and transfer them to the master data management Informatica Center. This is known as the grounding phase, as the data is collected into a table in the node repository known as the grounding table.

A dedicated ETL tool executes the process of data collection data from external sources. This ensures the accurate and efficient transfer of data to the Informatica MDM Center for further processing.

2. Stage

The process of extracting meaningful and relevant information from the grounding table is known as data cleansing. The cleaned data is then loaded into the corresponding one-step table.

Whenever there is a modification or initiation of data detection, the CDP (Cleanse, Match, and Merge) process is executed. The data is written, and then only the modified CDP is run with a subsequent write, while the unchanged write remains unchanged.

3. Load

At this stage, the corresponding table in the central memory, commonly referred to as the base or dependent object, is populated with data from the configuration table. Trust rules are then applied to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data.

4. Tokenise

The process of matching utilizes a special token created through a set of keys that help the system locate and compare pertinent objects. This streamlined approach ensures an exact match, improving accuracy and efficiency in identifying items based on their unique traits.

5. Match

At this stage, the records undergo a matching process where they are compared against the matching rules. By using distinct flags, duplicate records can be identified.

6. Consolidate

A consolidated record is generated by merging the values of duplicate records, incorporating the most accurate cell values from either the original record or the record in the level table. This process helps in removing redundancy and ensuring data consistency.

7. Publish

After completing the batch processing in the Informatica MDM solution, the next step is to publish the Batch Application Toolkit (BAT) to other systems as needed. In Informatica MDM, this is accomplished through a stored database that can be accessed either from the Hub console or from a user script.

8. Real-time processing

In the current phase, external applications communicate with Informatica MDM Hub via the Service Integration Framework (SIF) interface. It involves real-time processing using various APIs provided by SIF for reading, cleaning, appending, matching data, and more.

This processing is useful when there are updates or deletions in any record from the source system. The central warehouse also facilitates real-time incremental processing for newly added, updated, or deleted data from a source system.

Informatica MDM Architecture

The MDM solution provided by Informatica is designed for mastering business information by involving business data in several processes. With the help of the Informatica MDM solution, businesses carry out data governance practices easily and effectively.

The architecture of the Master Data Management System provided by Informatica is a service-oriented architecture (SOA). This SOA is a group of services that communicate with each other through simple data transfer.

Take a look over the Informatica MDM architecture diagram.

3-Tier Model of Informatica MDM Architecture

Informatica MDM Architecture

The architecture of Informatica MDM MDE follows a 3-tier model. The essential components of this model are the Hub Store, Hub Server, Process Server, and Web Console UI.

Database Layer

  • The Hub Store is where all business data and metadata resides
  • Relational DBMS supported are Oracle, DB2 UDB, and SQL Server
  • Two types of schemas are available – MDM Master Schema and ORS Schema
  • CMX_SYSTEM is the default and easily configurable Master Schema.
  • Master Schema contains details about defining user, tool for user permissions, ORS permissions for users, and ORS connection.
  • ORS means Operational Repository Store, and CMX_ORS is the default ORS schema created and is configurable
  • MDM Hub installation can have more than a single ORS. And the ORS can be created in the same database server or a different database server
  • ORS schema contains data objects and storage repositories. Which are for managing master data, business data, and metadata.

Application Layer

Informatica MDM Hub is composed of several logical components that work together to provide comprehensive data management. These components include:

Hub Server

This run-time component handles core and common services for the MDM Hub. It processes client requests for data and offers data access in multiple modes. The Hub Server is a J2EE application that runs on the application server and coordinates data processing within the Hub Store and integration with external applications.

Process Server

This component includes Cleanse and Match Server, which are responsible for data cleansing and matching operations, respectively. The Process Server applies data quality rules, corrects invalid data, and merges duplicate records.

Master Reference Server

This server manages the data within the MDM Hub and ensures data consistency and integrity. It provides a central repository for storing and managing master reference data.

Hierarchy Manager

This component manages hierarchical relationships between records and supports data hierarchy management.

SAM

Security Access Manager (SAM) ensures secure access to MDM Hub services and data by managing user authentication and authorization.

BDD/IDD

Business Data Director (BDD) and Informatica Data Director (IDD) are user interfaces used to manage and manipulate master data in the MDM Hub.

SIF

Service Integration Framework (SIF) provides a set of APIs that allow external applications to interact with the MDM Hub in real-time. SIF enables applications to read, clean, append, match, and update data.

Process Server

The Process Server is a crucial role that maintains data quality, consistency, and accuracy by performing multiple tasks. These tasks include data cleansing, matching, and executing batch jobs such as loading data, recalculating BVT (Business Validation Test), and revalidating the collected information.

Its primary objective is to interact with cleanse engines to establish uniformity in the data while optimizing its performance for proper matching and consolidation purposes.

The Process Server works alongside the cleanse engines to standardize and enrich data for better matches and consolidation. This ensures that all information is accurate, consistent, and reliable for all users.

UI Console

  • Provides a user-friendly interface for managing data in Informatica MDM MDE.
  • Includes tools for configuring the environment, with access permissions based on user roles and responsibilities.
  • The system provides users with the necessary tools to set up their environment. Access permissions are granted based on user roles and responsibilities, ensuring a secure and efficient
  • The Java Swing library offers programmers a versatile tool for creating applications. By using the included consoles, developers can design intuitive graphical user interfaces (GUI) for their software
  • Examples of these tools include IDD (Informatica Data Director), MDM Hub Console, and Provisioning Tool.

Informatica MDM Use Cases

Retail and E-commerce

Customer 360 View

Informatica MDM consolidates customer data from multiple sources, providing a comprehensive view of each customer. This unified view allows retailers to deliver personalized experiences, targeted marketing campaigns, and seamless omnichannel interactions.

Product Data Optimization

Informatica MDM ensures consistent and accurate product information across retail channels, facilitating efficient product catalog management, improved search capabilities, and enriched customer experiences.

Healthcare

Patient Data Integration

Informatica MDM enables healthcare providers to integrate patient data from disparate systems, ensuring a complete and accurate patient record. This unified view improves care coordination, enables better clinical decision-making, and enhances patient safety.

Provider Data Management

Informatica MDM helps healthcare organizations manage provider data, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information on physicians, specialists, and healthcare facilities. This facilitates network management, contract compliance, and effective provider relationship management.

Financial Services

Know Your Customer (KYC) Compliance

Informatica MDM assists financial institutions in establishing a comprehensive view of customer data to meet regulatory requirements. It streamlines KYC processes, enhances risk management, and ensures compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

Reference Data Management

Informatica MDM helps financial organizations manage reference data, such as currency codes, security identifiers, and industry classifications. This ensures accurate and consistent reference data for financial transactions, reporting, and regulatory compliance.

Manufacturing

Supply Chain Data Integration

Informatica MDM enables manufacturers to integrate data from suppliers, distributors, and partners, enhancing supply chain visibility and collaboration. This results in streamlined procurement, optimized inventory management, and improved production planning.

Product Lifecycle Management

Informatica MDM supports end-to-end product lifecycle management, from ideation to retirement. It ensures consistent product information across systems, accelerates new product introductions, and enables efficient product data governance.

Energy and Utilities

Asset Data Management

Informatica MDM facilitates the management of asset data in the energy and utilities sector, including equipment, infrastructure, and maintenance records. This enables organizations to optimize asset performance, schedule maintenance activities, and ensure regulatory compliance.

Meter Data Management

Informatica MDM helps utilities manage meter data, including consumption, billing, and meter readings. This ensures accurate billing, improves customer service, and enables efficient energy management.

Conclusion

Data security and privacy are significant concerns for organizations globally, regardless of their size or location in today’s technological era. To enhance industry data engagement and protect against external threats, investing in Informatica MDM tools is essential.

These tools offer various methods to secure data, increase research, and ensure business success and growth in the long run. Therefore, prioritizing investment in Informatica MDM tools is crucial for organizations to stay ahead in the evolving technological landscape.

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