Challenges in Effective Product Data Management for B2B Manufacturers

However, various systemic and organizational barriers often complicate this task. This article explores the root causes of these difficulties and discusses potential solutions.

Diverse Data Languages Across Systems

At the heart of product data management challenges lies the complexity of varied "Product Data Languages" used not only within an organization's internal IT systems, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems but also across external partner and distributor ecosystems. Each system and department, whether internal or belonging to partners, operates with its own data definitions and structures. This diversity leads to significant confusion regarding the source of accurate and true data, complicating the tasks of data exchange and reuse. By establishing a root source of data that serves as a standard reference, organizations can solve this mesh-type problem, facilitating seamless integration and consistent accuracy of product data across all involved parties.

Lack of a Centralized Data Master

A significant obstacle in effective product data management is the absence of a centralized 'Product Data Master'. Without a central repository, product data remains dispersed across numerous internal and partner systems, complicating efforts to consolidate a single source of truth. This lack of centralization impedes the efficient aggregation and retrieval of data, negatively affecting decision-making and operational agility.

Dedicated responsibility for data management, where specific roles or departments take charge of maintaining and updating data within their domains, emerges as a strategic solution. This approach ensures that data governance is maintained accurately and consistently, promoting better control and utilization of information across the enterprise.

Governance Challenges

Although a product manager may have a clear vision for the management and utilization of product data, they often face obstacles in enforcing this vision uniformly across various departments and systems. This "many hands, single brain" dilemma occurs because, despite having centralized knowledge, spreading and implementing these standards throughout the organization is fraught with difficulties. To counter these challenges, appointing a single individual or team responsible for all governance rules and definitions is essential. This centralized authority ensures consistent understanding and application of data standards across all users, facilitating smoother governance and more effective data management.

Varied Delivery Methods (API, file, email, etc)

The diversity in data delivery methods further complicates the management of product data. Each system may require different data formats or protocols for data delivery, adding layers of complexity to data integration and synchronization efforts. This not only slows down processes but also affects the agility of the organization to respond to market changes or internal demands.

Multiple Data Formats (different languages)

Compounding the issue is the variety of data formats used across systems. Whether due to legacy systems that use outdated formats or newer systems that adopt modern standards, the lack of uniformity makes it challenging to ensure seamless data integration and usage. This diversity necessitates additional transformation and normalization steps, which can introduce errors and consume valuable resources.

Conclusion

The prevailing wisdom suggests standardizing data formats across systems, but this approach can lead to a loss of control over data, unintentional changes, and externalized costs. Instead, our strategy diverges from these norms by focusing on importing all data, identifying and filling gaps, and branching to differentiated product data sets within a master system. This approach ensures that every system remains up to date while maintaining full control over product data transformation across all systems.

Neurologik offering is a sophisticated platform that centralizes and synchronizes product data without standardizing it into a common format. Instead of forcing uniformity, Neurologik accommodates the diverse needs of various departments and systems by reintegrating tailored data sets back into their original systems in their native formats. This process ensures that all stakeholders can access a consistent, accurate, and directly usable dataset, thus fully leveraging the enhanced management processes to improve the functionality and potential of product data across applications.