14.02.2025 | BJÖRN BAYARD
For several decades, the digitalisation of their business processes has been a topic of concern for many companies. More recently, the focus has been increasingly shifting to the necessary networking of these business processes to increase the company’s agility, respond more flexibly to changes, and to identify interdependencies, potentials, and risks at an early stage. The new vision of the data-driven company, characterised by effective and fast decision-making processes and a high degree of resilience to changes and challenges, is driving this development.
In this blog article, we want to clarify what agile business means and how modern Master Data Management can help to make business processes more resilient and sustainable.
What does business agility mean?
Business agility refers to the ability to react quickly and effectively to changes – these can affect many different perspectives:
Customers
In some industries, customer expectations and needs can change rapidly. Trends and market dynamics determine the pace of product development and marketing, forcing companies to constantly adapt their offering and its promotion.
Employees
Many companies are struggling with a lack of resources, which intensifies the battle for new talent. Accordingly, they must respond to the needs and expectations of new employees, modernise their internal organisation, and target their desired candidates. Employer marketing is also undergoing major change, which will inevitably require corresponding adaptations.
Legislation
Legislation is one of the biggest sources of change for many industries, such as food retail and the healthcare market. New sustainability and safety guidelines require ever greater transparency and increasing volumes of data that must be provided in the highest quality possible.
Partners
Along the global supply chains, there are countless data exchange processes with retail and business partners that are subject to constant change. Data quality and process efficiency are the most important drivers of cost and time savings as well as good and sustainable partner relationships.
Market
External factors such as economic crises or environmental conditions can also lead to changes in production and trading processes, which companies must recognise and manage accordingly in order to remain competitive.
Accordingly, business agility requires the following aspects:
1. Transparency
Change can only lead to appropriate measures if it is visible and comprehensible to the decision-makers. Collecting relevant information and data therefore represents inevitable groundwork for companies. Appropriate data management systems help to keep the information up to date and available for all those involved.
2. Gaining insights
Raw data and information without a recognisable context are not enough to generate valuable insights regarding business decisions and strategic considerations – this requires linking and enrichment with relevant contexts.
3. Reaction & adaptation
The next step is to translate the insights gained into appropriate measures. These can be adjustments to the product content and processes or even to the product, communication or corporate strategy.
The more closely these three points are linked, the more agile an organisation can be. While the last point is primarily a process and organisational issue, the first two points require the right technological foundation, high-quality data, and an end-to-end digital value chain.
What does business agility mean?
Business agility refers to the ability to react quickly and effectively to changes – these can affect many different perspectives:
Customers
In some industries, customer expectations and needs can change rapidly. Trends and market dynamics determine the pace of product development and marketing, forcing companies to constantly adapt their offering and its promotion.
Employees
Many companies are struggling with a lack of resources, which intensifies the battle for new talent. Accordingly, they must respond to the needs and expectations of new employees, modernise their internal organisation, and target their desired candidates. Employer marketing is also undergoing major change, which will inevitably require corresponding adaptations.
Legislation
Legislation is one of the biggest sources of change for many industries, such as food retail and the healthcare market. New sustainability and safety guidelines require ever greater transparency and increasing volumes of data that must be provided in the highest quality possible.
Partners
Along the global supply chains, there are countless data exchange processes with retail and business partners that are subject to constant change. Data quality and process efficiency are the most important drivers of cost and time savings as well as good and sustainable partner relationships.
Market
External factors such as economic crises or environmental conditions can also lead to changes in production and trading processes, which companies must recognise and manage accordingly in order to remain competitive.
Accordingly, business agility requires the following aspects:
1. Transparency
Change can only lead to appropriate measures if it is visible and comprehensible to the decision-makers. Collecting relevant information and data therefore represents inevitable groundwork for companies. Appropriate data management systems help to keep the information up to date and available for all those involved.
2. Gaining insights
Raw data and information without a recognisable context are not enough to generate valuable insights regarding business decisions and strategic considerations – this requires linking and enrichment with relevant contexts.
3. Reaction & adaptation
The next step is to translate the insights gained into appropriate measures. These can be adjustments to the product content and processes or even to the product, communication or corporate strategy.
The more closely these three points are linked, the more agile an organisation can be. While the last point is primarily a process and organisational issue, the first two points require the right technological foundation, high-quality data, and an end-to-end digital value chain.
Transparent data: the basis for agile business processes
Much has been discussed about data transparency and quality – but what it really means for a company is typically highly individual. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, as the ideal image of data management depends on numerous factors. These can be factors such as the product structure, the communication landscape and the data recipients, the regulatory framework, and the information requirements of the individual stakeholders in the company.
The first step is therefore to consider all these factors and define which data must be made available to whom and in what quality in order to achieve full transparency at the right level. These preliminary considerations have a direct influence on the choice of appropriate software systems. Central data such as product information and digital assets are managed by suitable Product Content Management Systems.
A comprehensive solution not only covers all requirements for completeness, consistency, and availability of data but it also ensures effective data processes from onboarding to distribution to the individual data recipients.
Master data management as a basic technology
Product Content Management Solutions support the effectiveness of product management, marketing, and sales processes and thus make a significant contribution to sustainable business development. This is important for marketing your own products efficiently and taking measures quickly and effectively when general conditions change.
While this perspective focuses on the digital value chain of product communication, certain product-relevant information is also important for many other use cases and strategies. This master data must not only be made available across companies but also linked to master data from other domains such as customers, competitors, or locations. Only by connecting this data are individual views of the business processes possible, which allow insights that are required to achieve business agility.
Master data management as a basic technology
Product Content Management Solutions support the effectiveness of product management, marketing, and sales processes and thus make a significant contribution to sustainable business development. This is important for marketing your own products efficiently and taking measures quickly and effectively when general conditions change.
While this perspective focuses on the digital value chain of product communication, certain product-relevant information is also important for many other use cases and strategies. This master data must not only be made available across companies but also linked to master data from other domains such as customers, competitors, or locations. Only by connecting this data are individual views of the business processes possible, which allow insights that are required to achieve business agility.
Importance of MDM for industry and retail
The complex interdependencies between industry and retail in sectors such as Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) or cosmetics require comprehensive master data management. Transparent supply chains and effective data exchange processes are only possible with high-quality and consistent master data. Purchasing, logistics, and sales also depend on high-quality master data.
How Master Data Management can be implemented in your company is therefore not just a technological issue but also one that affects business processes.
Importance of MDM for industry and retail
The complex interdependencies between industry and retail in sectors such as Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) or cosmetics require comprehensive master data management. Transparent supply chains and effective data exchange processes are only possible with high-quality and consistent master data. Purchasing, logistics, and sales also depend on high-quality master data.
How Master Data Management can be implemented in your company is therefore not just a technological issue but also one that affects business processes.
Contact us if you have any questions about your Master Data Management – we will be happy to support you!
Kind regards – Your Björn Bayard
