Using data governance for decision-making via SAP MDG: a leap towards innovation

In today’s world of digitalisation and progress, companies are becoming increasingly aware that they have to make the most of their data in order to drive innovation. Data is the foundation on which strategic and expansion decisions are made; it’s what allows companies to pursue new targets successfully.

To make this possible, the departments responsible for business information management face a big challenge: ensuring that all members of an organisation have access to the data they need. True progress is only possible if different company areas share information and coordinate with one another.

As a result, bringing data analysis capabilities to all of them has become key. Tools such as SAP MDG, which optimise, enrich and streamline data governance, are a great help in this regard. Below is everything you need to know about this solution.

The objectives of data governance

Master data management, or data governance, is fundamental for coordinating a company’s employees, processes and technology. It’s not a goal in itself, but a means for turning data into an effective resource that can be analysed to generate business value. Therefore it must be brought in line with a company’s strategy and values.

Generally speaking, the goals of data governance are the following:

• To convert data into a company asset by laying the foundations for its analysis and management.
• To create, approve, communicate and integrate the principles, policies, processes, methodologies and instruments necessary to process information, and to define who is responsible for doing so.
• To supervise different management initiatives and guarantee that any policies in place are respected when using data.
• To manage and monitor information structures, ensuring that the data life-cycle is appropriate, from the time data is created until it is used and ultimately deleted.

If an organisation lacks a solid data processing structure, this will make any analysis efforts more difficult. In fact, this can even result in erroneous decisions with adverse consequences for the company. It’s therefore essential to have a long-term governance strategy, supported by software that guarantees its viability. Let’s take a look at how to make the most of a solution like SAP MDG.

SAP’s solution for supporting data governance

Considering the number of companies that use SAP and need to enhance their data governance, at NTT DATA we have developed our own vision of SAP Master Data Governance (SAP MDG S/4HANA) to help our customers make the most of the benefits of artificial intelligence.

Our job as consultants is to boost companies’ value by offering advanced management of their master data. To make this possible, we use this solution to centralise all tasks. The SAP MDG S/4HANA system combines consolidation with central governance, distribution and high-quality monitoring in a single tool that also comes preconfigured and ready to use. Among others, three of the main advantages of this model are:

• Complete integration with the SAP ecosystem, which simplifies and streamlines data acquisition and replication, both for incoming and outgoing SAP MDG data.
• Access to the different functionalities of SAP Fiori’s launchpad, with an easy-to-use and intuitive user interface.
• A data model based on the standard information model (SAP MM) and the object validations used in the transactional system.

This is, therefore, a data governance solution that enables more skilful management of all operations throughout the master data life cycle. Moreover, in addition to SAP MDG, at NTT DATA we also work with other valuable SAP tools, including SAP Analytics Cloud for data analysis operations and SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). By doing so, our team is always prepared to offer our customers the most comprehensive advice.

NTT DATA and the advantages of an AI-based approach

One of the other key factors of NTT DATA’s governance strategy is our commitment to abilities centred on machine learning and AI. Using the potential of these two cutting-edge technologies comes with a series of important benefits:

• Process automation,
• Identification and deletion of duplicate information.
• Detection of security vulnerabilities.
• Categorisation and improvement of master records.
• Decision-making suggestions.
• Improvement in data quality.
• Fine-tuning of algorithms.

For all these reasons, bringing artificial intelligence on board at a company significantly improves the accessibility and usefulness of our tools. As a result, operations are sped up, and data-driven decisions can be made rapidly and effectively.

The connection between data and company processes becomes much more organic and simple thanks to NTT DATA’s model, which integrates everything necessary in the form of a single solution: SAP MDG S/4HANA. In addition, this improved connectivity makes it possible to offload the global data management process to the different areas of a company’s hierarchy easily. Contact us and discover how we can help you achieve optimal data governance.