Why Do Enterprises Need Reference Data Management?

Reference Data Management can be defined as a process which enables efficiency across the market by maintaining high quality data standards. It is also the process of managing hierarchies and classifications across business lines and systems. It includes tracking changes, performing analytics, distributing reference data and more. For an ideal Reference Data Management, Enterprises must set standards, frameworks and policies to manage and govern both external and internal reference data. Examples of Reference Data are country codes, state codes, marital status type codes and gender codes etc.

Reference Data Management provides a means to govern how we differentiate, classify, reference and analyze things reflected by our Data. By bringing together the reference data into a single environment for stewardship. and governance helps to improve the consistent use of data, to reduce the costs of the data management, improves the results of the analytics and quality of the regulatory data and in short improves total business outputs.

Reference Data Management helps to reduce risk and drives operational efficiency. For instance, when you have lots of reference data, that is maintained in the multiple spreadsheets across the enterprise wherein, multiple people are maintaining different versions and there is no central place where they are entering the information and there is also a situation in regard to who, what and when people are duplicating the information, that’s inaccurate type of data, will create a huge mess. Managing Reference Data with a tool allows the entered data to be cleansed, governed and maintained as per the business standards and ensures also there’s an approval process.