cimt

Service · Master Data Management

One golden record for customer, product and supplier

Inconsistent master data is the silent killer of AI initiatives, reporting and compliance. cimt builds MDM solutions that harmonise your core data across ERP, CRM, PIM and legacy systems — with an approach tuned to your maturity.

Master Data Management (MDM) is the discipline that ensures your critical master data — customers, products, suppliers, locations — is consistent and reliable across every system. cimt delivers MDM in five building blocks: a maturity assessment that shows where you stand, an architecture design (registry / consolidation / coexistence) tuned to your landscape, canonical data models with erwin Data Modeler, an integration strategy via Qlik Talend Cloud (real-time or batch), and a stewardship model that assigns ownership and quality monitoring. Result: one golden record per domain, trustworthy reporting and a data foundation that AI applications can rely on.

Why MDM

Without MDM, inconsistencies are inevitable

Customer records that vary per system, product codes that don't match, supplier data that's wrong everywhere. The result: bad reporting, lost revenue and compliance risk. Organisations trying to scale AI hit this wall first.

MDM domain Typical sources Impact without MDM
Customer data CRM, ERP, e-commerce, customer service Duplicate customer records, wrong invoicing
Product data PIM, ERP, webshop, suppliers Inconsistent catalogues, returns loss
Supplier data ERP, procurement, contract management Compliance gaps, duplicate payments
Location & reference data ERP, GIS, HR, logistics Reporting errors, wrong allocations

Strategy & architecture

Five building blocks for a working MDM solution

A successful MDM implementation starts not with tooling but with strategy. We use the DAMA DMBoK framework to position MDM within the broader data management landscape.

MDM maturity assessment

Where does your organisation stand? Which domains take priority?

Architecture design

Registry, consolidation or coexistence model, tuned to your system landscape.

Canonical data models

Models for customer, product and supplier with erwin Data Modeler.

Integration strategy

Real-time synchronisation or batch, via Qlik Talend Cloud or API integration.

Governance setup

Roles, responsibilities and decision-making processes for master data.

Stewardship

Who does what in your MDM organisation

Technology alone doesn't solve MDM. The key is clear ownership per data domain, defined responsibilities and workable processes for quality monitoring.

Role Responsibility
Data Owner Strategic decisions on the data domain, budget responsibility
Data Steward Day-to-day quality monitoring, rule enforcement, issue resolution
Data Custodian Technical execution, integration, management of MDM tooling
Data Consumer Uses master data in daily processes, provides quality feedback

First step

Book an MDM intake conversation

In a no-obligation conversation we identify which MDM domain has the highest business impact and what a first pilot could look like.

Frequently asked

MDM in practice

What is the difference between MDM and a data warehouse?

A data warehouse aggregates historical data for analysis and reporting. MDM manages the current, 'true' version of your core data (golden record) for operational use across all systems. They often work together: MDM provides clean core data, the warehouse uses it as reference. Many organisations build a warehouse first and hit the wall because the source master data isn't right — MDM solves that structurally.

Which MDM architecture fits us: registry, consolidation or coexistence?

Depends on your integration appetite and source systems. Registry: light, references only — good for analytics. Consolidation: copies data into one golden record for analysis — good when source systems cannot be replaced. Coexistence: synchronises changes back to source systems — most impact, requires strict governance. We pick the right model in the architecture phase, not as a pure tech choice but based on your operational reality.

Do we strictly need erwin for MDM?

No. We use erwin Data Modeler for canonical data models because it has proven integration with the most-used MDM platforms and supports the DAMA approach natively. If you already use another modelling tool or an MDM suite (Informatica MDM, Stibo, Reltio), we integrate our approach around that.

How long does a first MDM implementation take?

A working MDM for a single domain (e.g. customer data) typically stands in 4–6 months: maturity assessment → architecture → canonical model → integration of top-3 sources → stewardship process. Subsequent domains follow faster because the architecture is in place. A full enterprise MDM (all 4 domains, all systems) is a multi-year programme.