Glossary · Processes & structure
Master data
Core data such as customers and products that has to be correct everywhere.
Master data is the core data your whole business relies on: your customers, your products, your suppliers, your item numbers. It does not change often, but almost every process uses it. That is exactly why it has to be correct and consistent everywhere.
Things go wrong when the same customer has a different name in one system than in another, or when a product has two numbers. Figures then drift apart, reports do not add up and you lose time working out which version is the right one.
Managing master data well means having clear agreements about who creates and changes it. One correct, shared source stops every department from building its own version of the truth.
