Do you have projects lined up for next year that will deal with
reference data? It’s a good idea, especially if you want to better
understand your customers, determine the profitability of your products
or work more effectively with your suppliers.

If your projects are formal they may be identified as master data
management (MDM), customer data integration (CDI) or product
information management (PIM). All of these are examples of reference
data.

Getting your reference data in order – reflecting what is and was –
helps to establish data consistently. This, in turn, enables historical
analysis such as trending, and helps you plan for the future. Some of
you will not have projects with the MDM, CDI or PIM labels, but if you
look beneath the covers you almost inevitably will see efforts to
improve your reference situation.

>>> Continue to the rest of Your 2008 Data Integration Plans, Part 3:Getting your reference data in order