What Is Master Data Governance?

Master data is the information that supports different processes within a company and is used repeatedly by areas and systems, generally answering fundamental questions such as "who" and "what?".

That is the case, for example, of:

• Customers;
• Vendors;
• Materials and products;
• Business Partners;
• Assets;
• Structures and other master records used by the organization's processes.

The concept seems simple. The challenge lies in ensuring that this information is reliable throughout its entire life cycle. After all, it is not enough to have a record in the system. You need to know how it was created, who approved it, which rules were used, when it was changed and in which systems that information needs to be available.

That is why talking about master data necessarily means talking about governance.

Master data governance is how the company establishes rules, responsibilities and processes to ensure that its main master records are created and maintained appropriately. In practice, it answers rather simple questions that do not always have a clear answer inside organizations:

• Who can create a record?
• Which information needs to be filled in?
• Who must approve it?
• How do we know whether that record already exists?
• Which rules need to be applied before the information reaches the ERP?
• Who can change data after it has been created?
• How do we ensure that the same information is used correctly in different systems?

When these answers are not defined, each area tends to find its own way. And that is when parallel spreadsheets, e-mail-based processes, duplicate records, incomplete information and a considerable amount of rework start to appear. Master data governance organizes this scenario.

Not exactly.

Governance defines the rules, responsibilities and guidelines for data to be well administered. MDM, or Master Data Management, provides processes and technology to put that management into practice.

It is a very close relationship.

A company may define that every new vendor needs to go through certain validations before being created. MDM helps turn that rule into a structured process, with a form, validations, approvals, automations and traceability.

That is why MDM should not be understood simply as “one more system”.

It is a way of structuring the master data life cycle, from request and creation through changes, updates and, when necessary, obsolescence.

In an MDM solution it is possible, for example, to create workflows, apply business rules, perform validations, control approvals and follow each step of the process. On AKQUINET's [MUB®](/en/solutions/saas) platform, the workflow can cover exactly this complete master data cycle.

Master data is present in practically every stage of an operation.

A vendor is related to purchasing and payments. A material may be related to purchasing, inventory, production, quality and sales. A customer may impact sales, billing, credit, logistics and relationship.

Therefore, when information is wrong or incomplete, the problem is hardly restricted to the record itself.

Imagine a material created with inconsistent information. The consequence may appear later, during a purchase or in production. The same happens with a duplicate vendor or a customer with outdated information.

The more systems and processes a company has, the greater the challenge of keeping this information consistent tends to be.

Master data quality problems may be reflected in operational processes, integrations, indicators and customer experience.

And there is another important point: correcting a record after the problem has happened is usually much more laborious than preventing it from being created incorrectly.

That is when governance starts to generate value.

The main change is that the master record stops being treated merely as an administrative task.

It becomes part of a defined process.

Instead of someone simply creating a record in the system, the company can establish a flow in which the information is requested, validated, complemented and approved before reaching the productive environment.

And this can be done according to the characteristics of each business.

A company may, for example, require certain documents to create a vendor. Another may need to validate tax information. A manufacturer may need to relate a material to a bill of material, routing or purchasing info record.

Governance allows these needs to be incorporated into the process.

In [MDM+ BRO](/en/solutions/material-and-product), AKQUINET's solution for SAP environments, for example, different master data can be connected within a single workflow. A product record may involve material, bill of material and routing, among other related data, according to the needs of the process.

This changes the logic of master data: instead of simply “putting information into the system”, the company starts to ensure that the record is complete and ready to be used by the business.

Governance is not solved with technology alone.

This is an important distinction.

Before choosing a tool, it is necessary to understand the processes, define responsibilities and establish the rules that make sense for the organization.

Technology comes in to make this governance viable at scale.

When a company has thousands of records, different areas, several units and more than one system, doing all this control manually becomes increasingly difficult.

An MDM solution can automate steps, apply rules, conduct approvals, identify possible duplicates, integrate systems and record the history of actions.

At AKQUINET, this combination is addressed through three pillars: people, processes and technology. Specialized consulting acts precisely in understanding the scenario, redesigning processes, defining rules and implementing the appropriate technology.

Another very common scenario is the company that uses different systems for different areas.

In this case, the challenge is not only keeping good master data within each system. It is necessary to ensure that the information makes sense when it circulates between them.

It is in this scenario that a multidomain MDM platform can take on the role of a central governance point.

[MUB®](/en/solutions/saas), AKQUINET's SaaS solution, was developed to act as a central master data hub, collecting, consolidating, standardizing, enriching and distributing information to the company's different systems. The platform integrates with different environments, including SAP, TOTVS, Oracle, Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics, among others.

This way, the company does not need to think about governance in isolation for each system.

It can establish a common logic for its master data.

There is no single technological reality within companies. Some organizations have SAP as the core of their operation. Others work with TOTVS, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics or different combinations of systems. That is why the governance strategy needs to follow this reality.

For SAP environments: MDM+ BRO

[MDM+ BRO](/en/solutions/material-and-product) is AKQUINET's solution for master data governance in SAP environments. It is a certified SAP add-on, with an architecture integrated into the ERP and adherence to SAP Clean Core. The solution was developed to govern different data domains inside SAP, going beyond the traditional customer, vendor and material master records.

In practice, this allows structuring workflows, business rules, validations, approvals and automations directly in the SAP environment, also using the security and authorization mechanisms of the system itself. For companies that already have SAP as a central part of their architecture, this characteristic can simplify the governance scenario and reduce the need for parallel solutions to administer master records.

For other ERPs: MUB®

For companies that use other ERPs or have a more heterogeneous technological environment, AKQUINET offers [MUB®](/en/solutions/saas). MUB® is a SaaS, no-code and AI-driven platform for Master Data Management, created to integrate different systems and provide a unified view of master data. The proposal is to centralize governance without limiting the company to a single ERP. In addition, MUB® is multidomain: it can work with traditional master records, such as material, vendor, customer and Business Partner, and also with other types of master data, according to the organization's needs.

The evolution of MDM also goes through intelligent automation. At AKQUINET, Artificial Intelligence is applied within the governance processes themselves, and not as an isolated technology. It can support activities such as document validation, filling in information, analysis, decision-making and content generation from master data. All of this within the flows and rules defined by the company. The idea is simple: use technology to reduce manual tasks and make the process faster and more consistent, without giving up control.

There is no single moment to start. But some signs usually appear before the company realizes there is a bigger problem:

• “We have a lot of duplicate records.”
• “Each area works in its own way.”
• “We still depend on spreadsheets to control master data.”
• “We don't know exactly who can change certain information.”
• “The approval process takes too long.”
• “We need to correct the same record in several systems.”
• “Our team loses a lot of time with master data requests.”

If some of these situations are part of the routine, perhaps it is time to look at master data in a different way. Not only as an operational activity, but as part of the structure that supports the business.

Talking about digital transformation, automation, analytics or Artificial Intelligence without looking at master data quality means leaving an important part of that transformation out.

After all, all these initiatives depend on reliable information.

Master data governance helps precisely to create this foundation: clear rules, structured processes, well-defined responsibilities and technology capable of sustaining all of this.

And it does not have to be an exclusively technology project.

It is a change in the way the company creates, maintains and uses information that is important for its operation.

At AKQUINET Brazil, we work with Governance and Master Data Management, combining process knowledge, specialized consulting and Master Data Management (MDM) solutions.

For SAP environments, [MDM+ BRO](/en/solutions/material-and-product) offers an approach integrated into the ERP, with SAP certification, adherence to Clean Core and multidomain governance.

For companies that use other ERPs or different systems, [MUB®](/en/solutions/saas) offers a SaaS, no-code and AI-driven platform, capable of integrating different environments and centralizing master data management.

More than choosing a tool, the goal is to find a way to make master data work better for the company's reality.

Because governing master data is not just organizing information. It is creating a more reliable foundation so that people, processes and systems work in the same direction.

Get to know AKQUINET's solutions for Master Data Governance and find out which approach makes the most sense for your company's environment.