Is it Time to Clean Up Your Master Data ?
Master data is interesting. Assuming only a single primary repository like Dynamics GP still results in master data issues and often, it has nothing to do with system.
My favorite example goes like this: You have multiple offices across the country. They all use AT&T for phone service (cellular or POTS line, it doesn’t matter). Each location gets their own bill.
Ideally you have one vendor and you send one check. Each location is coded individually and it’s easy. Except that if you do that, AT&T will misapply the check to one location and cut off phone service at the others.
I’m picking on AT&T but every major corporate and government entity is like that. GP supports multiple addresses for a single vendor, but getting users to use that correctly is challenging too. Splitting AT&T into multiple vendors makes really easy to get the payment right and the phones stay up. It makes analysis harder, because now there a dozen AT&Ts.
Frankly, keeping the phones running is normally more important than analysis and a good chunk of the factors are external, not internal. There may be other ways to address this but what I’ve just described is typical. Master record cleanup works better when you understand some of the factors behind what made the mess.