As manufacturers look back at 2020, they will reflect on the challenges, pivots, wins and new learnings. While many companies accelerated well designed solutions and employed them with success, others created stopgaps that were put in place rapidly to expand into new channels, launch new products and gain digital shelf distribution in new retail customers.

A primary growth vector on the mind of many CIOs today are mergers and acquisitions. And many of these CIOs are in charge of managing a host of internal systems that share data. Establishing a single source of truth that can unite these systems in near real-time, so that operations can run seamlessly across old and new business units alike, is a challenge all of these CIOs face.

Master data management (MDM) enables telecom providers and CSPs to gain control of their data and leverage it for new business opportunities.

Telecom operators, telecom equipment manufacturers and digital communications service providers (CSPs) are looking into a large untapped business potential with a 5G, edge-connected world allowing to address new types of subscribers in new ways. The telecom industry, challenged by competition and legislation, has a unique opportunity to leverage new technologies, such as AI, and develop new business models, renew their offerings and become more efficient.

Four proactive ways of enhancing product information management instead of returns management – or how to drop from 20% to 0.5% return rate

Returns have been a pervasive problem for online retailers since online shopping began, and it’s only going to become more challenging with the growth in online sales. Right now, we can foresee a perfect storm building with the approaching holiday season’s shopping spike amid the COVID-19 crisis and the encouragement to minimize in-person activities. As a result, January 2021 may be the largest month in absolute volume for returns ever seen by retailers, and January 2nd may be the height of that returns storm.

Financial services institutions, such as banks and insurance companies, rely on MDM-enabled transparency of their customer master data and product master data to capitalise on a number of industry trends, including:

Master data management (MDM) plays a critical role in ensuring data transparency. MDM therefore enables you to leverage the customer and product master data – that you already have – to address and drive revenue from these current trends in the financial services industry.

How memories of the joys of parenting remind us of the importance of implementing data governance to achieving business success

I recently had the joy of looking after my brother’s 13-month-old lad for the night, which took me back. I’ve two daughters, the youngest is seven. Fatigue had largely wiped my mind of the finer details of looking after little ones. But it all came screaming back when my nephew awoke at 3:30 am and wouldn’t settle again until an hour later.

Synthetic data is the test data that makes your business operations run smoothly; and if those operations are automated with AI, it's essential to use master data management (MDM) to make sure your decisions are unbiased.

Data generates data which in turn generates more data. How do we know if what is being produced is fit for purpose? What if a bot, designed to help us to make an informed investment decision or simply provide us with the best answer to our customer services question, gets it wrong?

Obviously, testing all the different corners of solution sets is important. As AI takes a more dominant role in automating decision processes, it becomes essential to make sure MLOps - enabled by MDM - is working from good data that is explainable (XAI) and free from bias.

From department and specialty big-box stores to grocers and independent retailers, the industry has been impacted by many challenges this year, much of which have been driven by an increase in digital shopping, Covid-19 and consumers’ weakening pocketbooks. The upcoming holiday season – including Black Friday and Cyber Monday – provides an opportunity for retailers to regain lost ground and perhaps even move from red to black in terms of profitability. In fact, Deloitte predicts that holiday sales this season will grow by 1.5% in the U.S. compared to last year.

Discover the seven business benefits of transparent product information management (PIM) in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry

The business of pharmaceutical manufacturing is undergoing a data evolution. Business leaders need to understand how mastery of their data is essential to achieve leadership in a highly competitive market. The importance of the digital supply chain is growing. Manufacturers are building new processes that interconnect the back office with the front office and even directly to the customer’s operations. The pharmaceutical industry is becoming more digitally enabled and data intensive. Building a digital supply chain requires harvesting the raw materials that constitute it: Data.

Get the eight business benefits of transparent product information management in the medical device manufacturing industry - It's not all about compliance with medical device regulations

The business of manufacturing medical devices is undergoing a data evolution. Business leaders need to understand how mastery of their data is essential to achieve leadership in a highly competitive market.

The pertinence and prevalence of the digital supply chain is growing. Manufacturers are building new processes that interconnect the back office with the front office and even directly to the customer’s operations. The industry is becoming more digitally enabled and data intensive.

Building a digital supply chain requires harvesting the raw materials that constitute it: Data.