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The Perception of Master Data Management - Part 3 : V V Narendra Kumar

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Figure 1. MDM hub architecture



Hybrid style hubs utilize methods from both transaction/repository and registry style hubs, and try to address some of the issues present in each. Since it may not be practical to update existing applications or to send inefficient, massive queries across several databases, the hybrid system combines some of the advantages present in the other models by leaving master data on the native databases, generating keys and IDs to access this data, but replicating some of its important attributes to the hub. When queries are made, the hub can service the more common requests, and queries only need to be distributed for the less-used attributes, which results in a more efficient process. While the hybrid style combines advantages of both of its parent models, it has its own disadvantages. Since it stores replicated data from outlying databases, it may run into updating issues, and, like the transaction/repository style, deciding which attributes to store, naming to be used and format to store them in can create problems.



Conclusion

The heterogeneous (and proprietory) nature of MDM's components and modules makes training and prototyping the first priority for an IT shop that has just embarked on a MDM implementation. DBAs, System Administrators and Basis professionals should look very closely at MDM for opportunities to implement best practices learned on other application suites. Solution Architects, Developers and Data Modelers should attempt to apply and scale their existing SDLC discipline for design, development, documentation and production-support, to MDM.

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The Perception of Master Data Management - Part 2 : V V Narendra Kumar

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Life Cycle- CRUD cycle
Master data can be described by the way that it is created, read, updated, deleted, and searched. This life cycle is called the CRUD cycle.
Customer
Product
Asset
Employee

Create

Customer visit such as to Web site or facility; account

Product purchased or manufactured; SCM involvement

Unit acquired by opening a PO; approval process necessary

HR hires, numerous forms, orientation, benefits selection, asset allocations, office assignments
Read
Contextualized views based on credentials of viewer
Periodic inventory catalogues
Periodic reporting purposes, figuring depreciation, verification
Office access, reviews, insurance-claims, immigration
Update
Address, discounts, phone number, preferences, credit accounts
Packaging changes, raw materials changes
Packaging changes, raw materials changes
Immigration status, marriage status, level increase, raises, transfers
Destroy
Death, bankruptcy, liquidation, do-not-call.
Canceled, replaced, no longer available
Obsolete, sold, destroyed, stolen, scrapped
Termination, death
Search
CRM system, call-center system, contact-management system
ERP system, orders-processing system
GL tracking, asset DB management
HR LOB system
Data to be Managed
o Behavior
o Life Cycle
o Cardinality
o Lifetime
o Complexity
o Value
o Volatility



MDM project plan

An MDM project plan will be influenced by requirements, priorities, resource availability, time frame, and the size of the problem. Most MDM projects include at least these phases,



· Identify sources of master data.
· Identify the producers and consumers of the master data
Collect and analyze metadata about for your master data
· Appoint data stewards
· Implement a data-governance program and data-governance council.
· Develop the master-data model
· Choose a toolset
· Design the infrastructure
· Generate and test the master data
· Modify the producing and consuming systems
· Implement the maintenance processes.

MDM is a complex process that can go on for a long time. Like most things in software, the key to success is to implement MDM incrementally, so that the business realizes a series of short-term benefits while the complete project is a long-term process. No MDM project can be successful without the support and participation of the business users. IT professionals do not have the domain knowledge to create and maintain high-quality master data. Any MDM project that does not include changes to the processes that create, maintain, and validate master data is likely to fail. The rest of this paper will cover the details of the technology and processes for creating and maintaining master data.
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Creating a Master List

Whether you buy a tool or decide to roll your own, there are two basic steps to creating master data: clean and standardize the data, and match data from all the sources to consolidate duplicates. Before you can start cleaning and normalizing your data, you must understand the data model for the master data. As part of the modeling process, the contents of each attribute were defined, and a mapping was defined from each source system to the master-data model. This information is used to define the transformations necessary to clean your source data.

Cleaning the data and transforming it into the master data model is very similar to the Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processes used to populate a data warehouse. If you already have ETL tools and transformation defined, it might be easier just to modify these as required for the master data, instead of learning a new tool. Here are some typical data-cleansing functions:

Normalize data formats. Make all the phone numbers look the same, transform addresses (and so on) to a common format.
Replace missing values. Insert defaults, look up ZIP codes from the address, look up the Dun & Bradstreet number.
Standardize values. Convert all measurements to metric, convert prices to a common currency, change part numbers to an industry standard.
Map attributes. Parse the first name and last name out of a contact-name field, move Part# and partno to the PartNumber field.



Most tools will cleanse the data that they can, and put the rest into an error table for hand processing. Depending on how the matching tool works, the cleansed data will be put into a master table or a series of staging tables. As each source is cleansed, the output should be examined to ensure the cleansing process is working correctly.



Matching master-data records to eliminate duplicates is both the hardest and most important step in creating master data. False matches can actually lose data (two Acme Corporations become one, for example) and missed matches reduce the value of maintaining a common list. The matching accuracy of MDM tools is one of the most important purchase criteria. Some matches are pretty trivial to do. If you have Social Security numbers for all your customers, or if all your products use a common numbering scheme, a database JOIN will find most of the matches. This hardly ever happens in the real world, however, so matching algorithms are normally very complex and sophisticated. Customers can be matched on name, maiden name, nickname, address, phone number, credit-card number, and so on, while products are matched on name, description, part number, specifications, and price. The more attribute matches and the closer the match, the higher degree of confidence the MDM system has in the match. This confidence factor is computed for each match, and if it surpasses a threshold, the records match. The threshold is normally adjusted depending on the consequences of a false match. For example, you might specify that if the confidence level is over 95 percent, the records are merged automatically, and if the confidence is between 80 percent and 95 percent, a data steward should approve the match before they are merged.



Most merge tools merge one set of input into the master list, so the best procedure is to start the list with the data in which you have the most confidence, and then merge the other sources in one at a time. If you have a lot of data and a lot of problems with it, this process can take a long time. You might want to start with the data from which you expect to get the most benefit having consolidated; run a pilot project with that data, to ensure your processes work and you are seeing the business benefits you expect; and then start adding other sources, as time and resources permit. This approach means your project will take longer and possibly cost more, but the risk is lower. This approach also lets you start with a few organizations and add more as the project demonstrates success, instead of trying to get everybody on board from the start.



Another factor to consider when merging your source data into the master list is privacy. When customers become part of the customer master, their information might be visible to any of the applications that have access to the customer master. If the customer data was obtained under a privacy policy that limited its use to a particular application, you might not be able to merge it into the customer master. You might want to add a lawyer to your MDM planning team.



At this point, if your goal was to produce a list of master data, you are done. Print it out or burn it to a CD, and move on. If you want your master data to stay current as data is added and changed, you will have to develop infrastructure and processes to manage the master data over time. The next section provides some options on how to do just that.



Master data management best practices

When considering a new discipline like master data management (MDM), it's only natural to seek out people who have been there and done that.



But MDM best practices are still emerging and it's not easy to get organizations to talk about their MDM experiences. Kalido Inc., a Burlington, Mass.-based MDM technology vendor, admits that it has a hard time getting customers to talk to the press.



All this secrecy around successful MDM programs doesn't help companies looking for best practices, which is partly why Kalido sponsored a customer audit and MDM best practices study by San Mateo, Calif.-based analyst firm Ventana Research. Its researchers examined the best practices of five anonymous Kalido customers to reach their conclusions. The Ventana study, an experienced consultant, and a European telecom maker finally shed some light on the best (and worst) practices for MDM success.



1. Get business involved -- or in charge.



"MDM has to be driven by business needs, otherwise it may turn out to be just another database that must be synchronized with all the other ones," said David Loshin, president of Knowledge Integrity Inc., a Silver Spring, Md.-based consultancy that provides an MDM strategy development service and has worked on enterprise-scale initiatives.



Similarly, the Ventana study found that businesspeople, rather than IT, should drive the process. Support ranging from C-level executives to senior managers to business end users was critical for success, Ventana found. It's often hard to motivate an organization to get behind the dry prospect of MDM, but early enterprise-wide support is important in the long run, users said. If key corporate goals are tied to the project through a solid business case, it should be a straightforward task to demonstrate benefits and generate excitement.



2. Allow ample time for evaluation and planning.



Plan at least three months for evaluation, talk to reference customers, and do a proof-of-value project with samples of real company data, Kalido users told Ventana researchers. Don't underestimate the time and expertise needed to develop foundational data models, users said.



"It's more complex than people realize -- and that requires starting early and using real data for planning," said David Waddington, a Ventana vice president and research director who worked on the study.



IT's cooperation was an area of concern, as some companies have experienced delays in projects waiting for permission and access rights, Ventana found.



3. Have a big vision, but take small steps.



Consider the ultimate goal, but limit the scope of the initial deployment, users told Ventana. Once MDM is working in one place, extend it step by step, they advised. Business processes, rather than technology, are often the mitigating factor, they said, so it's important to get end-user input early in the process.



"If you're just interested in getting consistent customer data, it's very important to do that against the bigger background of 'how am I going to manage all of my master data longer term?'" Waddington explained. "Then you don't end up in the situation [of] having to link together a whole lot of different solutions."



4. Consider potential performance problems.



Performance is the 800-pound gorilla quietly lurking in the MDM discussion, Loshin cautioned.



Different architectures can mean different performance penalties. For example, if a company uses the master hub style of MDM, record creation flows through a single point, which can become a bottleneck. Also, with many applications relying on MDM, the workflow, system priorities and order of operations become critical issues to consider up front. How companies solve this potential performance problem varies, Loshin said, because it's inherently related to their unique architectures.



5. Institute data governance policies and processes.



Allow time and money for people and process change management, and don't underestimate the size of the job, experts agreed. Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson learned that the politics of data governance can be quite difficult, according to Roderick Hall, senior project manager. Long before deploying SAP MDM, the Stockholm-based company instituted a master data group to manage critical data assets. It's a "shared services" group that provides services to both IT and business. The group started as part of the finance department, but the function changed with the realization that master data management was a company-wide concern, Hall said. Their job isn't always easy.



Although some departments, such as finance, saw the value of centralizing master data management, Hall said, other groups were reluctant to give up data ownership.



"To get acceptance of the fact that people have got to give up the freedom to correct their own master data to some faceless group in Stockholm [where the master data group is located] has been a pretty hard battle," Hall said.



6. Carefully plan deployment.



MDM is still relatively new, so training of business and technical people is more important than ever, Ventana found. Using untrained or semi-trained systems integrators and outsourcing attempts caused major problems and project delays for MDM users, Waddington said.



Then, there's the prospect of rolling out a program that has an impact on many critical processes and systems -- no trivial concern. Loshin recommended that companies should plan an MDM transition strategy that allows for static and dynamic data synchronization.



"Trying to adjust the underlying infrastructure without affecting day-to-day operations can be as challenging as fixing potholes in the highway without disrupting traffic," Loshin said.

MDM Architecture

There are three basic styles of architecture used for MDM hubs: the registry, the repository, and the hybrid approach. The hybrid approach is really a continuum of approaches between the two extremes of registry and repository.



While master data management solutions may take many forms, most of them share similar architecture. This architecture is what allows for the accurate, consistent management of data and data processes by maintaining a structured environment under which MDM tools can operate. At the core of these systems is the MDM hub, a database in which master data is cleaned, collected and stored. MDM solutions may use multiple hubs to govern different sets of data, such as product information, customer data and site data, and each hub generally utilizes one of three common models: transaction/repository, registry, or hybrid.



In a transaction/repository-style hub, all relevant data is stored and accessed from a single database, and the database must contain all of the information needed by the different applications which access it. All data is consolidated and centralized, and published to the individual data sources after it has been linked and matched. This style of hub allows for a single source of data to be created, minimizing duplication by making it easier to detect as data is collected and cleaned. However, the transaction/repository style has drawbacks as well. Existing applications may have to be modified to use the master data, and in some cases this is not possible. Different applications and services which serve as an interim interface between the MDM software and the data-dependent applications may be needed and this can add to costs. Also, data models need to be complex enough to include all relevant information for the applications that utilize them, but not so large that they become overly large.



Registry style hubs, in contrast, do not store master data in the hub, but rather master data is maintained within native application databases. The hub instead stores lists of keys with which to access all relevant attributes for a specific master data entity, linking these attributes between application databases. The registry style hub allows for applications to remain fairly intact as all data is managed within native databases. However, when requests are made to access master data, data must be located, a query must be distributed between numerous databases, then a list of the requested data must be formed all in real time, and as the number of source databases grows, this can become increasingly inefficient. In addition, duplicate data entities can reside on different databases, or even within the same database, and while consolidation and cleaning of individual databases would be ideal, it is not always practical. Another disadvantage is that when new databases are to be included in the hub registry, new keys must be added to the existing tables, which may also require altering how queries are generated.


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Continued....

The Perception of Master Data Management - VV Narendra Kumar

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The Perception of Master Data Management

Abstract

Master data management (MDM) is a comprehensive method of enabling an enterprise to link all of its critical data to one file, called a master file, which provides a common point of reference. When properly done, MDM streamlines data sharing among personnel and departments. In addition, MDM can facilitate computing in multiple system architectures, platforms and applications. The benefits of the MDM paradigm increase as the number and diversity of organizational departments, worker roles and computing applications expand. For this reason, MDM is more likely to be of value to large or complex enterprises than to small, medium-sized or simple ones. When companies merge, the implementation of MDM can minimize confusion and optimize the efficiency of the new, larger organization. For MDM to function at its best, all personnel and departments must be taught how data is to be formatted, stored and accessed. Frequent, coordinated updates to the master data file are also essential.



Introduction

Master data management (MDM) is meant to deliver a near real-time, hub-based and synchronized master record of information to any seat or point of view in the organization. Master records are created with data that is defined, integrated and reconciled from multiple systems (customer relationship management, financial, supply chain, marketing etc.) and classified by type (e.g. product master, customer master, location master etc.). MDM is often pursued by data type through programs that address Customer data integration (CDI) or product information management (PIM), though many observers believe true MDM requires reconciliation of all data types. Critical to MDM are the notions of data quality and matching, which technology tools can help to automate.



Master Data



Most software systems have lists of data that are shared and used by several of the applications that make up the system. For example, a typical ERP system as a minimum will have a Customer Master, an Item Master, and an Account Master. This master data is often one of the key assets of a company. It's not unusual for a company to be acquired primarily for access to its Customer Master data.



Essential data types

There are essentially five types of data in corporations:



Unstructured—This is data found in e-mail, white papers like this, magazine articles, corporate intranet portals, product specifications, marketing collateral, and PDF files.
Transactional—This is data related to sales, deliveries, invoices, trouble tickets, claims, and other monetary and non-monetary interactions.
Metadata—This is data about other data and may reside in a formal repository or in various other forms such as XML documents, report definitions, column descriptions in a database, log files, connections, and configuration files.
Hierarchical—Hierarchical data stores the relationships between other data. It may be stored as part of an accounting system or separately as descriptions of real-world relationships, such as company organizational structures or product lines. Hierarchical data is sometimes considered a super MDM domain, because it is critical to understanding and sometimes discovering the relationships between master data.

Master—Master data are the critical nouns of a business and fall generally into four groupings: people, things, places, and concepts. Further categorizations within those groupings are called subject areas, domain areas, or entity types. For example, within people, there are customer, employee, and salesperson. Within things, there are product, part, store, and asset. Within concepts, there are things like contract, warrantee, and licenses. Finally, within places, there are office locations and geographic divisions. Some of these domain areas may be further divided. Customer may be further segmented, based on incentives and history. A company may have normal customers, as well as premiere and executive customers. Product may be further segmented by sector and industry. The requirements, life cycle, and CRUD cycle for a product in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) sector is likely very different from those of the clothing industry. The granularity of domains is essentially determined by the magnitude of differences between the attributes of the entities within them



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continued...

SAP MDM ONLINE TRAINING - COURSE CONTENTS

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SAP MDM Course Content:
1. SAP MDM Console:
History Of MDM
MDM Overview
MDM Performance
MDM Components
•Server Components
•Client Components
•Admin Components
Console Introduction
Repository structures
Creating Repository
Slave Repository
Normalize Repository
Compacting Repository
Duplicating Repository
Load Repository with Indices
Appropriate Repository
Update Repository
.A2A files
Archive Repository
Un Archive Repository
MDM Transport Procedure
Export Repository Schema
Import Repository Schema
Working with different types of tables
•Flat
•Qualifier
•Taxonomy
•Hierarchy
•Special tables
•Object tables
Console Settings
•Creating Users & Roles
•Change tracking
•Remote systems
Console Security
•Repository Level
•Server Level
Repository Administration
Normalize Repository
Compacting Repository
Duplicating Repository
Appropriate Repository
Update Repository
Backup and Restore
Working with master/slave Repository

2. SAP MDM Data Manager:
Data Manager Overview
MDM Modes:
•Record Mode
•Hierarchy Mode
•Taxonomy Mode
•Match Mode
Free Form Search
Masks
Relationships
Named Searches / Free Form Search
Validations and Assignments
Matching Mode
Transformations
Rules
Strategies
Match & Merge
Working with Qualifier tables
Relationships
Working with Images
Check In / Check Outs
SAP MDM Workflow

3. SAP MDM Import Manager:
•Import Manager Overview
•Configure Import Manager
•Import Map File
•Pre-requisites for Data Import
•Monitoring Import Status
•Performing Data Import
•Transformations
•Table Joins and Lookup
•Splitting fields
•Building Hierarchy
•Partitioning Fields
•Field Mapping/Value Mapping
•Value Conversion
•mdis file
•Batch processing

4. SAP MDM Syndicator
•Syndicator Overview
•Exporting into diff file formats
•Record Suppression
•Syndication Map
•Maps and Map properties
•Item Mapping
•Destination Items
•Custom Items
•Merge Items
•Syndication Records

5. Overviews:
Master data Consolidation
Harmonization
Central Master Data Management

6. Integration Scenarios:
•XI Integration
•R/3 Communication

7. Real Time Scenarios on LIVE Servers

For details and demo, Please contact

Sree
info@sapmdm.co.in
Mob: +911-9949512008

Data Modelling and Designing in SAP MDM

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Data Modeling and Designing in MDM:

Data Modeling is like organizing files in file cabinet. Effective organizing ensures effective performance.

data modelling and database design

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Data Modelling and Database Design in ABAP – Part 4
Tobias Trapp

Tobias Trapp is SAP Mentor and developer for AOK Systems GmbH

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Handling Multiple Languages in SAP MDM Ankur Ramkumar Goel

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Handling Multiple Languages in SAP MDM
Ankur Ramkumar Goel


Handling Multiple Languages in SAP MDM

Presenting the 4 part series on Multi-lingual Functionality of SAP MDM since most people are unaware of MDM's multi-lingual capabilities: a necessity for many of today's globalized companies operating in many locations worldwide, most with their own local language. Not only master data but metadata is also supported in multiple languages. This series in Multilingual capability of SAP MDM strives to understand that how SAP MDM can support multi-lingual master data requirements of all users in an organization.

The series is divided into 4 parts from Console settings, Import Manager, Data Manager and Syndicator.





Part 1 emphasize the console setting for multilingual data in SAP MDM. It highlights the making a multilingual repository, adding/removing/change primary and secondary languages, multilingual lookup data, archiving and Importing/exporting multilingual repository etc.

Multiple Languages in MDM Part 1: Console Settings for Multilingual Master Data



Part 2 emphasize the Import Manager capability to import the multilingual data into SAP MDM. It highlights that how the data for multiple languages can be imported together or in different sessions according to requirements.

Multiple Languages in MDM Part 2: Importing Multilingual Master Data into MDM with Import Manager



Part 3 emphasize the Data Manager capabilities to manage the multilingual data. It highlights that how the data of multiple languages in main and lookup tables can be maintained and changed. It also describes that how data of multiple languages are compared, matched and merged and how multilingual validations are supported etc.

Multiple Languages in MDM Part 3: Managing Multilingual Master Data with Data Manager





Part 4 emphasize the multilingual capability of SAP MDM Syndicator. It highlights the possible ways and how we can achieve to send out the data to respective systems in landscape. It provides a step by step solution for syndicating the multiple languages data.

Multiple Languages in MDM Part 4: Syndicating Data in Multiple Languages









Ankur Ramkumar Goel has over 7 years of SAP experience in ABAP, BI and MDM with implementations, Roll outs, Maintenance, due diligence and strategy projects across Europe, USA and APJ, and has been instrumental in MDM for 3 years.

Getting Informed on SAP NetWeaver MDM 7.1 Documentation Updates Markus Ganser

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Getting Informed on SAP NetWeaver MDM 7.1 Documentation Updates
Markus Ganser

To provide news on SAP NetWeaver MDM documentation updates in a timely manner, the MDM documentation team has provided a dedicated space in the MDM documentation center at SAP Service Marketplace for quite some time now (see SAP NetWeaver MDM 7.1 documentation updates, or SAP NetWeaver MDM 5.5 documentation updates).

To further streamline the publication channel for SAP NetWeaver MDM 7.1 documentation updates according to the MDM community on SDN, the MDM documentation team has decided to open a specific SDN thread in addition to the specified space at SAP Service Marketplace, and is commited to use the SDN discussion forum to continuously post information about docu updates and new documentation. So it's up to you to select the channel that suits you best.

Simply watch this new SDN thread, or include it in your favourite links if you like to stay tuned on what's going on in SAP NetWeaver MDM 7.1 documentation.

Tribute goes to the MDM documentation team.

Regards,

Markus

SRM and MDM Episode #1: SRM-MDM Catalog v2.0 is generally available! David Marchand

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SRM and MDM Episode #1: SRM-MDM Catalog v2.0 is generally available! David Marchand


Hi all,

For the first episode of the inaugural "SRM and MDM" series, I like to share a good news: SRM-MDM Catalog v2.0 is made available today (actually on August 20th 2007) to all SAP customers (SRM, ERP) running procurement scenarios.

This means any customer who has the right license of SRM or ERP willing to upgrade to SRM-MDM Catalog v2.0 can do it today. The software is available for download on the SAP Service Marketplace: http://service.sap.com/swdc then browse to Download / Installations and Upgrades / Entry by Application Group / Installations and Upgrades / SAP Application Components / SAP SRM Catalog / SRM-MDM CATALOG / SRM-MDM CATALOG 2.0

Before you download the software, you may wish to learn what's new in it and which issues it could solve. But as the Zip file is 678 Mb big, I would suggest to launch the download process anyway and read the rest of this post in the meantime....

There are so many good reasons to adopt SRM-MDM Catalog v2.0 that I run the risk to turn this post into a boring marketing white paper. So I'll just focus on the top 10 reasons:

10- Robust Netweaver MDM Core: v2.0 SP1 relies on MDM 5.5 SP5, which has been proven to be robust and stable

9- Easy migration from v1.0 made possible by a built-in repository converter: check for more details on the dedicated Component Upgrade Guide located on http://service.sap.com/instguides / Installations and Upgrade Guides / SAP Business Suite Applications / SAP SRM / Using SAP SRM Server 6.0. By the way, at the same location, find a number of very interesting documents such as the functional documentation or the business scenario description.

8- Support of relationships between catalog items: Bill of Materials, Sales Kits, Substitutes and Related Items can be modeled now. This is an important step in the direction of direct material management and support of more advanced procurement processes. The concept is to bundle items together, either as parent - children (for BOM and kits) or as siblings (for substitutes and related items). The spectrum of different variants proposed covers the most important business use cases found in procurement scenarios.

7- End-User interface has been upgraded: not only to support the additional functionalities, but also to propose better usability in the search experience.

6- All in one screen: the initial page of the search engine user interface has been divided in 3 parts: Control panel with folders and keyword search / category browsing with a pick list / results with found items. The results of the search (ie: the list of items) are now displayed on the first screen. No need of an additional click now.

5- New Context display of search results: in addition to the traditional list of items in a form of a table, a new display is possible. Items are presented with an image on the left side and selected fields listed next to it.

4- More flexible configuration of the user interface: many changes to support more flexibility have been implemented. As an example, the Open Catalog Interface mapping can be configured per user now, as opposed to per repository in v1.0

3- Shopping Lists: Each user logging to the search engine can create, edit and share shopping lists. A shopping list is a static list of items which are purchased on a regular basis. Using shopping list avoids repetitive search for the items again and again. On a side note, shopping lists are stored in the MDM server as masks, so that a content manager may create them on behalf of the end-users.

2- Catalog Exploring mode for search purpose only: End-user has the possibility to search and browse the catalog but will not be able to order any items.

1- Roadmap of functionalities to be delivered soon: With the v2.0 SP2 planned for the end of the year (mid December), we will deliver a couple of additional functionalities that I am sure you will like a lot:
- Connectivity to electronic forms: it will be possible to call an external electronic form by clicking on an item in the catalog (using the OCI). For example, by clicking on the item "business card", an e-form to configure that business card will be called. Once the user has completed the requested input fields on the e-form, the necessary information are sent back to the SRM-MDM Catalog shopping cart preview.
- Web-based approval cockpit: most of the workflow functions enabled on the MDM Data Manager will be put on a light web-based user interface. Approvers and power-users will not need to have the MDM Data Manager installed on their desktop anymore. They will be able to make decisions (approve, reject) online, just by using their internet Browser.

There will be more again coming up on the SP2 and with SP3 later next year. We will have the opportunity to discuss with more details.

With that, I like to end this first episode of the "SRM and MDM" saga. As always, I like to receive your feedback and suggestions.

The SRM team wishes you a successful implementation of SRM-MDM Catalog v2.0. As we speak, there are 12 customers live with SRM-MDM Catalog. If we can count 20 by the end of the year, I will earn a full bonus. So thanks a lot for your support J

All the best

David.

David Marchand Solution Management for Procurement

How to use the test environment of the MDM Enrichment Controller Andreas Seifried

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How to use the test environment of the MDM Enrichment Controller
Andreas Seifried

The MDM Enrichment Controller makes use of 3rd party or custom developed adapters to integrate information from external services into an MDM master data repository.

Through the administrative user interface of the controller, it is possible to test such adapters and their connectivity to the external service. This offers the advantage to

* Perform initial smoke tests of a recently installed 3rd party adapter based on standardized test data, which may be delivered by the provider.
* Test the adapter during development including and its communication with the controller and the external service without the actual need of having the complete MDM stack installed on the developer's workplace
* Manually test the availability of the external service in production without touching live data in the MDM repository

Besides this test environment, SAP additionally delivers a simulation environment that consists of

* An MDM repository containing example workflows and prepared configuration settings
* Sample adapters for testing and education
* Source code of the adapter implementations
* XML documents and schemas
* MDM import and syndication maps

You can use the simulation environment to study the complete request and response cycle form end to end, including the call to a Web service. Since the source code of the adapters is also included, you can use it for education or as a starting point for your own adapter development.

The remainder of this blog briefly explains how to setup the simulation environment and use the test environment with the contained adapters. It is assumed, that you already have deployed the MDM Enrichment Controller on the application server.

The complete procedure is described in the documentation on the SAP Help Portal at http://help.sap.com/saphelp_mdm550/helpdata/en/index.htm
-> MDM Enrichment Architecture
-> Configuring the MDM Enrichment Architecture
-> Setting up an Enrichment Simulation Environment.

Since the sample adapters and the respective Web service are deployed together with the MDM Enrichment Controller, there are basically only two things to do in order to use them in the test environment:

* Using the J2EE Visual Administrator, configure the Web service destination to point to the server where the MDM test Web service was deployed. This is typically the local server or "localhost".




































* Include the reference to the adapters in the configuration file of the MDM Enrichment Controller. Since this can only be done within a configuration section of a repository, it makes sense to use the values for the delivery example repository, even if you do not have MDM installed right now. In such a case just use arbitrary settings for the connection details to the MDM server, such as localhost for the host names as in the example below. (Note: Most of it can be copied out of the documentation.)

Destination service in visual admin

Both steps are described in the previously mentioned documentation.

Now you are ready to access the test environment via the admin UI of the MDM Enrichment Controller. See my other blog on the MDM Enrichment Controller Admin UI on how to open this.

MDM Enrichment Controller Admin UI

The link Test Enrichment Provider System brings you to the test environment, where you can now select out of the example adapters (AddressEnrichmentSimulator on the screenshot below) and select an XML file that is fed into the adapter. Together with the MDM Enrichment Controller, SAP ships a file named EC_Simulator.zip. In this file you find XML schemas and example files that are accepted by the example adapters. For instance, you need to feed the file AddressSimulatorOutSample.xml into the chosen adapter as shown in the screenshot.

MDM Enrichment Controller - Test Environment

Content of the sample XML:



13

Bob
Young

GBR
LONDON
23
Glendale Avenue

14

Bob
Young

ZZZ
LONDON
23
Glendale Avenue

After clicking on Test, you can download the XML response of the adapter.

Test result

Content of the response:



13

Bob
Young

GBR
LONDON
23
Glendale Avenue (simulator reply)
DEMO 99

true


14

Bob
Young

ZZZ
LONDON
23
Glendale Avenue

false
ZZZ Country not supported



As you see it is possible to perform this test without initiating the enrichment process from the MDM Data Manager and even without having actually the MDM Server installed. This makes the test environment very valuable during the development phase of an enrichment adapter.

SAP TechEd '07: Come see me speak!

If you are interested in more details about the MDM Enrichment Architecture: I will speak at SAP TechEd in Munich. You can attend there my session MDM350, which explains in detail how to develop and integrate an enrichment adapter.

Cheers,
Andreas

Andreas Seifried is a Product Manager for SAP NetWeaver Master Data Management.


How to use the test environment of the MDM Enrichment Controller
Andreas Seifried

Calculating Dates in MDM-Kristin Patterson

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Calculating Dates in MDM
Kristin Patterson

Hi, MDM Users,

I have been asked many a times about the formulas used in the MDM Expression Editors. There are examples throughout the MDM Data Manager Guides but even with these it takes some interpretation to figure out what is happening behind the scenes. As there are millions of expressions, I decided to write an article using just Dates as this seems to be a common field used within MDM and the expression editor.

Calculating Dates in SAP NetWeaver MDM

Even though the examples in the article are related to Dates, the formulas can be applied to other fields. Also, these formulas are used in Calculated Fields, Assignments, and Validations. These being important components of the MDM Workflow.
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/b025fab3-b3e9-2910-d999-a27b7a075a16
I hope this leads you to the exploration of even more MDM formulas.

Kristin Patterson

Kristin Patterson is a member of the SAP NetWeaver Solution Office.

Do you know the SAP Management Console (SAP MC)? Dirk Jenrich

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Do you know the SAP Management Console (SAP MC)?
Dirk Jenrich



If you are using windows, then you probably know the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), which provides a common framework for system management. SAP has developed the SAP Systems Manager snap-in which allows you to monitor, start or stop SAP systems centrally from the MMC, this simplifying system administration. Under Unix, however, for a long time no such tool was available.

But with SAP NetWeaver 7.0, things finally got moving:

* A new start service (sapstartsrv) is available on all platforms. It is offering web service interfaces to applications for centrally administering and monitoring SAP systems.
* With a similar UI to the SAP Systems Manager snap-in of the MMC, the SAP Management Console (SAP MC) was developed, which uses the web services mentioned above. The SAP MC is a browser-based, platform-independent user interface providing basic monitoring and administration of SAP systems.
* Within the development of SAP NetWeaver 7.1 the web service interfacs were further improved. These functions are already available to you in the SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment 7.1. To some degree, a downport of these functions to NW 7.0 is planned.

This weblog introduces the SAP MC. Technically, it's a Java applet running in a Java Runtime Environment on the front end host.

Summarized, the SAP MC allows you to monitor and perform basic administration tasks on SAP systems centrally, thus simplifying system administration. Among other things, it provides the following functions:

* Monitor and control (start, stop, or restart) SAP systems (ABAP and Java) and its instances with a single tool.
* Display SAP log and trace files, start profiles, instance parameters, the system environment, SAP environment, and so on.
* Display and control Java and ABAP processes.
* Monitor system alerts.

If you want to use the SAP MC, you need a Java Runtime Environment with a release as of release 1.4 on your front end. Besides, the corresponding Java Plug-In has to be active on your browser. To start the SAP MC, simply enter the following URL into your web browser:

http://:513

is the name of the host, where the application server is installed.

is the instance number of the application server mentioned above.

The URL is automatically forwarded to:

http://:513/sapmc/sapmc.html?SID=&NR=&HOST=

Now, simply choose Start.

image

Depending on the patch level of the SAP system, the values of the system entered in the URL are shown. If not, you can always add instances manually, using the pushbutoon "Add new instance":

image

Now specify the host parameters of the SAP system you want to display:

image

As you can see, the UI is similar to the MMC:

image

I suggest that you click a little bit around to find out about the different functions. Don't worry! You have to confirm every potentially dangerous command (for example stopping an instance) by entering user and password in order to prevent misuse. Or - if you one of the rare breed, who prefer reading the documentation first - follow this link: http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nwce10/helpdata/en/44/c707c053550f2ce10000000a1553f7/frameset.htm.

Note

Remember that this the documentation of the SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment, so for your NW 7.0 system not all of the functions mentioned there are available.

Some remarks about the UI:

* Right click an instance or a system to get more commands on that level:

image
* Entries below instance levels often contains sub trees; the corresponding icons appear after you've chosen the corresponding entry. As an example, you can see the sub trees for system monitoring, which show the current status and open alerts reported to the CCMS monitoring segments of the corresponding instance.

image

One remark about monitoring of Java instances. In release SAP NetWeaver 7.0, there is the entry AS Java containing a process table with information about the Java processes:

image

In SAP NetWeaver 7.1 however, you can see much more. If you add a Composition Environment (CE) instance, you can see a whole bunch of extremely important monitoring values - representing one of the most complete and comprehensible collection of metrics about Java monitoring. In detail, it contains:

* information about the AS Java threads, sessions, caches, aliases, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) sessions, remote objects
* Java Virtual Machine garbage collection and heap memory information of the application server

image

Is there anything more that might be interesting to know?

* You can use the SAP MC for systems with release SAP NetWeaver 2004 as well; see SAP note 1014480.
* If you want, you can install the SAP MC locally; see SAP note 1014480 as well.
* You can use https for calling the SAP MC; for details see SAP note 1036107.

If the notes are not visible to you now, please have some patience - the notes will be released soon.

Dirk Jenrich is info developer for SAP and specializes in central monitoring.

MDM 5.5: Performance problems while loading repositories solved through SP5 & Technical Changes Steffen Ulme

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MDM 5.5: Performance problems while loading repositories solved through SP5 & Technical Changes
Steffen Ulme

In this blog I will document the performance improvements which we made at a MDM-project with a very large repository. Maybe you have also problems with your repository (MDM 5.5 < SP5) regarding:
- Loading the repository,
- Adding/ Deleting fields via the SAP MDM Console,
- Modifying record values via the Portal Busienss Package.

If you have these problems, switching to MDM5.5 SP5 can solve these difficulties.

Let me describe our system landscape:
We used MDM5.5 SP4 with a very large repository (~200 tables, many taxonomy records). We had bad response times within the Portal UI as well as it took very long to add or delete fields within the SAP Console. The mayor problem was that it took around 3 hours to load the repository after it was stopped. This handicaped the project team very much, because during the loading of the repository nobody was able to work with it.

Solution description
To enhance the performance we implemented the following tasks:
1. Upgrade to MDM 5.5 SP5: We decided to upgrade to MDM5.5 SP5. Together with the upgrade we made the following

2. Landscape changes:
- we devided the Portal and the MDM Server into two machines, and
- we installed a new database on the local MDM-server.
Further we checked the repository modelling and changed the follwoing technical settings in the repsoitory in order to enhance the performance:

3. Keywords: Set the property "Keyword" for all repository fields to "None" if there is no need to set it to "Normal".

4. Sort Index Exists: Change "Sort Index Exists" for all fields from "Normal" to "None", excepts the fields which should be sorted via the result set in the Data Manager (e.g.: Name, Description, ID). The sort index enables the sorting of the data in the named column in the Data Manager

5. Display fields: Reduce the number of display fields within the repository. Reduce the number in all tables! (also in lookup, qualified tables as well as the main table)

6. Delete unused tables and fields: Check your repository if there are unused tables or not used fields. You should delete these fields and tables.

As a summary these are the reasons for the huge performance improvements:
- Upgarde to MDM 5.5 SP5,
- extra hardware (previously MDM was installed with Portal on one Box),
- newly installed Database SW => repository was newly unarchived => no fragments
- Technical Changes in the repository.


I hope that these experience will help you in your project if you have the described performance problems.

Steffen Ulmer

Steffen Ulmer is a SAP NetWeaver Technology Consultant.

A General Idea on SAP Master Data Management By Ron Victo

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Working across Sap heterogeneous forums systems at multiple places, SAP Master Data Management leverages accessible IT assets in business-critical data, delivering greatly reduced data repairs charges and very useful for sap business jobs. Moreover, by ensuring cross-system data consistency, SAP Master Data Management speed ups the implementation of business processes for jobs. SAP MDM is a key enabler of SAP Enterprise Service-Oriented Architecture forums.

SAP is at present on its second iteration of MDM software. Facing restricted acceptance of its primary release, SAP changed path and in 2004 purchased a small vendor in the PIM space known as A2i. This code has happen to the basis for the presently shipping SAP MDM 5.5, and for itself, most analysts believe SAP MDM to be more of a PIM than a broad MDM product at this time.

The components & tools of SAP NetWeaver master data management integrates business courses across the comprehensive value chain, delivering features and functions to help: Master data consolidation, Synchronization and distribution of master data , Centralized management of master data, Administration of master data, Management of internal content, Catalog search, Print catalog customization , Multichannel syndication of product catalog content, Business process support and Business analytics and reporting.

There are five normal execution scenarios:

Content Consolidation, Central Master Data Management, Master Data Harmonization, Rich Product Content and Global Data Synchronization With the SAP (MDM), you can:

1. Control customer relationships efficiently through streamlined visibility across various systems 2. Simply allocate master data to assigned systems through automated distribute and subscribe models 3. Lessen the number of part masters maintained worldwide by removing duplicates 4. Analyze and statement on spending by part, supplier, or other master data 5. Negotiate superior sourcing contracts based on analytical insights 6. Lessen supply chain charges by ensuring exact exchange of data involving manufacturers and dispensers or dealers. SAP Master Data Management is the basis for harmonized, reliable information that can be offered to client applications across the enterprise. It offers you a great way to attain information steadiness across your business or jobs and IT landscape. It enables improved decision-making, translating chance charges into gains, and reducing the charge of IT maintenance. SAP Master Data Management allows you to go with information across myriad applications and topographies -- whether that details resides in SAP, non-SAP, or legacy applications. Therefore, you can lessen costs, develop decision-making, and attain business goals on jobs. The sap news says that SAP (MDM) increases the sap jobs search and by training this sap certified course education module, it supports and gives more vacancies for permanent sap jobs for all developers or trainers worldwide.

Ron Victor is a SEO copywriter for SAP jobs
He written many articles in various topics like SAP news,SAP Forums,SAP Articles.For more information visit sap employment
Contact him at ron.seocopywriter@gmail.com.

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