Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
In their MDM system, the company firstly manages a
default value in the data repository. From this value, as
many use contexts as partners are created. Each of these
contexts inherits values by default and a customization is
possible for each partner. For example, if data must respect
a value range of between 1 and 100, each child context
inherits this range and can change it, still respecting the
minimum and maximum values without changing the values
in the other contexts.
At any time, the business users have at their disposal a
reporting tool which shows the differences between the
default data repository and that updated by a partner. Also,
some data are updated permanently, by the default data
repository and are not able to be updated in the data
repository by context.
At this stage, we have a default data repository, a first
line of affiliation by context which represents the
customization by the partners; and this affiliation continues.
The business users give update rights on certain reference
and master data to their partners' business teams. These
teams access a part of the MDM system via an extranet,
with access rights allowing them to create contexts in the
affiliation of their own company, while this is invisible to
other companies. A partner's business teams can also include
their own distribution channels such as agency, internet and
call center. According to these channels, certain reference
and master data can be customized, on the condition that the
organization owning the MDM system (parent company)
delegates the necessary rights to the partner (see Figure
6.2). The parent company has at its disposal the knowledge
of the contents of the all contexts and may impose on its
partners a validation phase of the customizations, prior to
use on the IT platform in a live environment.
The affiliation of contexts is an important concept. It
avoids the unnecessary and dangerous physical duplication
