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Master data management (MDM) is concerned with how an organization manages its most critical and valuable strategic resources—its “master data,” or data that describes the core business objects and main data assets shared across the organization. MDM combines the tools, processes, and governance mechanisms to ensure that master data is properly governed and coordinated across the enterprise, with high accuracy and integrity.
The software market is filled with tools to help businesses with critical master data processes and governance efforts. To help them sort through the options, we scored them on pricing, core and enterprise features, and how well they integrate with other systems, as well as on their vendors’ reputation and profile and the amount of support they offer customers.
Here are our top picks for best MDM solutions in 2023:
Syniti MDM: Best for Core Features
Pimco MDM: Best for Pricing
SAP Master Data Governance: Best for Enterprise Features
Top Master Data Management Tools: How They Compare
The MDM space is relatively mature and consists primarily of enterprise customers, and our ratings focus on how well each system meets the needs of that specific market. Here’s how they compared.
Since being acquired by Dell Technologies in 2010, Boomi has continued to grow as a leader in the MDM market. Billed as an “integration platform as a service,” Boomi’s Master Data Hub offers a low-code, cloud-native platform for connecting and synchronizing an enterprise’s data sources for data quality, consistency, and visibility. The platform is known for its easy-to-use interface and relatively low learning curve.
From $2,000 per month (Professional) to $8,000 per month (Enterprise Advanced)
Free trial available
Features
Low code, visual interface
Boomi Suggest Wizard for quickly adding fields to data models
Real-time, bidirectional data flows between master/connected systems
Automatic, real-time alerts
Pros
Easy-to-use and get up and running
Powerful integrations with other applications
Strong reporting and intuitive visual elements
Cons
Lacks more advanced features
Documentation lacks some level of detail
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Ataccama ONE
Best for Ease-of-Use
Canadian enterprise software developer Ataccama has been focused on MDM and business metadata management since its inception back in 2007. These days, its leading platform Ataccama ONE has over 55,000 users globally and is one of the more popular MDM solutions on the market. The platform is known for being easy-to-use while offering quite a bit of power through its intelligently-designed interface.
AI-powered functionality works across hybrid and cloud environments
Pros
Unified data governance, data quality, and MDM capabilities
Integrates with other tools for complete end-to-end MDM workflows
AI-powered platform functionality
Cons
Can be difficult to fine-tune and use advanced features
Community support is lacking
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Informatica Multidomain MDM
Best for Data Modeling and Workflows
Informatica’s Multidomain MDM enables organizations to create authoritative views of their mission-critical data from disparate, duplicate, or conflicting sources. The solution offers artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) tools that augment its data quality, data integration, and business process management capabilities. Additionally, data security and privacy features allow for the safe, easy enrichment of master data records with data from external sources.
$699,000 per year (up to 3 million unconsolidated records)
No free trial
Features
Supports a broad range of data/application landscapes
Metadata browsing and analysis across disparate metadata repositories
Powerful data algorithms out-of-the-box
Pros
Offers a full range of customizations
Strong data modeling and workflow features
Cons
Lackluster/outdated user interface
Expensive compared to competing solutions
Reported scaling issues handling large datasets
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Profisee MDM Platform
Best for Data Stewardship Features
Profisee MDM Platform is a cloud-native solution that provides users with an intuitive data stewardship interface and visual relationship management tools, workflow management, data quality rule enforcement, and more. The solution integrates natively with Microsoft Azure services and offers a REST application programming interface (API) for connecting to any external service, database, or applications.
Source: https://profisee.com/platform/
Pricing
Actual pricing not available
Licensed on a perpetual/subscription/consumption basis
No free trial
Features
Real-time, bi-directional data integration
Comes with a host of data stewardship applications
Easy development and embedding of MDM applications
Continuous change monitoring
Pros
Streamlined data management features targeting data stewards
Strong data cleaning and verification features
Metadata management and modeling capabilities
Cons
Difficult to integrate with other tools
Mediocre customer service/support
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Semarchy xDM
Best for Automations
Semarchy’s xDM focuses heavily on ML-powered automations—algorithms that enable data stewardship and advanced matching, survivorship, curation, and classification. The solution also provides a native data model for supporting transparent lineage, audibility, and governance. xDM can also integrate with any data source via real-time and batch APIs.
Pricing is on a per-license basis— estimated AWS cloud infrastructure cost is $0.046 compute instance per hour
Free trial
Features
Data quality and enrichment tools
Collaboration tools for accessing, managing, organizing, validating, and publishing data
Powerful, business-focused data governance tools
Pros
Vast feature set and range of options
AI/ML for powering advanced stewardship functionality
Strong customer support
Cons
Steep learning curve
User interface hides many powerful options
Can be difficult to set up and configure
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Syniti MDM
Best for Core Features
Syniti MDM allows users to create a single point of reference to master and application data from multiple domains, with connectivity to over 200 systems and applications. The solution is capable of intelligently notifying users regarding work to be performed, as well as monitoring processes against defined service level agreements (SLAs).
Advanced MDM governance hierarchy and security elements
Data cataloging and compliance monitoring and tracking
Pros
Offers transparent lineage reporting
Comes with extensive data source connectors
Cons
Not as intuitive or easy-to-use as other competing MDM tools
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SAP Master Data Governance
Best for Enterprise Features
Make no mistake—the SAP Master Data Governance platform is an enterprise offering through and through. The solution offers robust capabilities for consolidating and centrally governing enterprise master data, and includes support for all master data domains and implementation styles, as well as pre-built data models, business rules, workflow, and user interfaces.
Integrations with SAP applications and other leading enterprise software suites
Powerful auditing and compliance tools
Pros
Comprehensive, centralized data management capabilities
Strong master data versioning functionality
Built-in data analytics and reporting
Cons
Difficult to customize
Complex user interface
Users report intermittent glitches and errors
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Insight Software/Magnitude Kalido MDM
Best for Data Modeling
Kalido MDM, now part of insightsoftware, is a multi-domain MDM solution that offers advanced data modeling and policy-driven data governance. The solution complements the Kalido Dynamic Information Warehouse (DIW) solution as an all-in-one toolset for modeling, defining, and managing business data.
Domain-agnostic modeling via a single visual interface
Automated data stewardship capabilities
Collaboration and activity tracking
Pros
Provides elaborate workflow management and model-driven API
Seamless audit, validation, and security capabilities
Strong change management features for tracking master data lifecycles
Cons
Limited support options
Lackluster user interface
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Stibo Systems Multidomain MDM
Best for Use Case Diversity
Danish software developer Stibo Systems offers an integrated suite of MDM tools that allows users to connect, govern, enrich, and syndicate data to their specific business requirements. The solution is capable of consolidating multi-domain master data and other enterprise application and system data into a single source of truth for data accuracy and visibility.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/StiboSystems
Pricing
Actual pricing not available
No free trial
Features
Zone (intersections of multiple domains) creation, management, and insights
Unified data governance
Workflow management, API connectivity, and automation options
Pros
Strong integration capabilities for various data sources
Highly configurable platform
Intuitive, hierarchical organization of datasets
Cons
Limited documentation
Difficult user interface
Search functionality lacks power and scope
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Pimcore MDM
Best for Pricing
Pimcore MDM is the only open source offering in this list, making it extremely low-cost—but there are hidden costs and drawbacks in the form of lack of enterprise support and quality documentation. That said, the solution provides some powerful core MDM features, such as the ability to consolidate master data across disparate system landscapes using its open source tools, as well as features like data quality monitoring, hierarchy management, rich content integrations, audit trails, and workflow management.
Source: https://pimcore.com/
Pricing
Starts at $750 per month
Starter, Professional, and Ultimate tiers available
Free trial
Features
Powerful data standardization, editing, and batch processing tools
Rule-based data validation for a myriad of data types
Extensive publishing and versioning options for enterprise data
Pros
Highly configurable, customizable open source solution
Comes with advanced security features like role-based access control (RBAC) and access control lists (ACLs)
Provides a REST API for easy integration with other applications
Cons
Geared more toward developers
Difficult to deploy and set up
Missing advanced analytics and reporting
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Key Features of MDM Software
When it comes to MDM software, key features should be centralized around the management and maintenance of master data. Core features should be focused on data governance and stewardship. Enterprise features and support options are also crucial for servicing larger organizations. Expect pricing to fall on the high end, with the exception of Pimco’s open source MDM solution.
How We Evaluated MDM Software
To rate these 10 top master data management tools, we assigned them weighted scores from zero to five based on how well they met enterprise needs in the six key areas detailed below, and then aggregated the results.
Core Features | 20 percent
At the heart of all MDM software are its data governance and data stewardship capabilities. Along with these functionalities, other core feature considerations include collaboration tools, built-in analytics, and customizable user interfaces (UIs).
Support | 15 percent
MDM software vendors should offer multiple channels for support, including live chat, phone, email, and other forms of self-service support (e.g., knowledgebase, support forums). Given the prominence of enterprise buyers in this space, MDM vendors should offer options for paid custom support to customers willing to pay a premium for it.
Integrations | 20 percent
Integration concerns in this software category primarily revolve around data integrations and API connectivity—ideally, an MDM solution should offer extensive plugins and connectors to support a vast array of data types, as well as a REST API for integrating with other software packages and applications.
Enterprise Features | 15 percent
Enterprise concerns trump all others in the MDM space. A key requirement for most enterprises is compatibility with existing back office systems—for example, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and financial platforms—as well as flexible deployment modes (on-premises and in the cloud) and advanced AI/ML functionality.
Pricing | 10 percent
Pricing is somewhat of a secondary concern in this tool category, as organizations evaluating MDM solutions tend to be less price-conscious when it comes to managing their master data. Relevant sub-criteria used in calculating this metric include the overall cost of the solution, availability of a free trial or demo, number of pricing tiers, and upgrades or discounts, if any.
Vendor Profile | 20 percent
As is the case with enterprise features, vendor profile metrics are more critical to large organizations—especially when it comes to MDM. Sub-criteria used in evaluating vendor profiles include the breadth of the vendor’s solution suite, vendor business type ( startup or enterprise software vendor, for example), customer base size, and length of time in business.
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How to Choose the Right MDM Software for Your Business
The ideal MDM software for your business is the solution that addresses your specific data requirements, use cases, and environments. For example, organizations operating in highly regulated industries may be relegated to on-premises only solutions—a predicament that significantly narrows the range of options.
Similarly, firms wishing to retain full control of their data infrastructure may opt for a completely open source, self-hosted solution like Pimco MDM, assuming they have the necessary expertise/resources to support it. Your MDM software evaluation process should start with these types of non-negotiable requirements, followed by analysis of the candidate solution’s master data management and maintenance capabilities.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are Master Data Management (MDM) tools?
MDM tools are essential software applications for centralizing and harmonizing an organization’s critical data, such as customer information, product details, and supplier data.
Why are MDM tools critical for bolstering enterprise resilience?
As vital tools that enable better strategic decision-making, MDM platforms play a pivotal role in ensuring data accuracy, consistency, and cross-enterprise reliability by eliminating duplicates, standardizing formats, and providing a single source of truth for all of the organization’s data users.
What features should be a priority when evaluating MDM tools?
Due to the sensitive nature of master data and overarching concerns related to data security/privacy and sovereignty, organizations should first evaluate an MDM solution in this context, followed by a careful consideration of the solution’s data governance and data stewardship features.
Is data security a concern when using MDM tools?
Data security is also a concern when dealing with data; however, when it comes to MDM tools, data security is a heightened concern, since it deals with an organization’s master data.
Should I select an on-premises or cloud-based MDM solution?
This depends on your organization’s specific requirements, IT environments, as well as the availability of staff with the requisite expertise to deploy and manage an on-premises MDM solution.
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Bottom Line: Master Data Management Software
MDM solutions provide enterprises with an accurate, comprehensive way of linking and harmonizing critical data across the organization. Not all solutions are created equal—but these guidelines and considerations will better equip businesses to select the right solution for their unique requirements and use cases.
Leon Yen is a former staff writer for Datamation. He has been reporting on technology for over a decade and has written for CNET and BigThink. Before that, he was the co-founder and CEO of a cybersecurity startup, where he led the development of an industry-first cyber risk management platform. He has an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and a BS in Information Systems from the University of San Francisco.
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