The myriad of data management acronyms and terms out there in the IT industry can be difficult to keep track of. To keep you informed, we have defined five buzzwords most relevant to data management today. Navigate the list below to see if you are up to date with these popular terms.
1. Service-oriented architecture
2. Master data management
3. Customer data integration
4. Data governance
5. Compliance
Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is an architecture in which software components can be exposed as services on the network, and so can be re-used by different applications and business processes. It provides a flexible architectural model that permits the enterprise to respond to market changes quickly and efficiently. Read about how SOA starts with business objectives in "SOA and decentralized IT systems" and learn about how SOA is demystified for businesspeople. Also, learn about the challenges that emerge when BI meets SOA and listen to a podcast about SOA and data integration.
Master data management (MDM) is a discipline involving people, process and technology, which helps enterprises define, link and maintain consistent definitions of "master" business objects such as customers, suppliers or products. Learn more about MDM from a podcast interview with Mark Smith of Ventana Research, who discusses how early adopters are making use of MDM. Or, read about the master data management market for an explanation of what you need to know before you go on an MDM buying spree. And finally, don't forget to read about building a business case for master data management.
Customer data integration (CDI) is the process of managing customer information from all sources and making sure that the most current and comprehensive view of customer data is available enterprise-wide. Customer data can be collected from sources such as contact details and the customer valuation process, which makes CDI essential for customer relationship management (CRM). To learn more, read about how to begin a customer data integration initiative and listen to an introductory podcast about customer data integration with Jill Dyche. And fianally, read why Microsoft is using customer data integration internally.
Data governance has been around for a long time, but is experiencing a resurgence of interest -- thanks to regulatory compliance, MDM, increased data breaches and the increasing volumes of data in enterprises. Data governance refers to the processes and policies surrounding how data is handled. To learn more, listen to a data management podcast about trends in data governance, with Gwen Thomas. And read some valuable data governance tips for both techies and managers.
Compliance, with regulations like Sarbanes-Oxely, HIPAA and Basel II, is driving enterprises to carefully consider their data management infrastructures. While early SOX compliance was often done manually, enterprises are now seeking to automate many of these processes. For more information, read all about compliance software essentials or read a chapter excerpt on security controls for Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 IT compliance.
