Share your experience using Stibo Systems Customer Master Data Management

I am currently working with data governance and then advisory and expert for SAP Master Data Governance.

I find all of the functions and features in SAP Master Data Governance to be the most valuable. SAP Master Data Governance has data models based on the SAP ERP data model for master data.

SAP Master Data Governance's data quality management capabilities focus on data quality management because it has workflows. It contains workflows that require a minimum of three steps before you approve a record, and there are usually more steps than just three for most companies, depending on the data object. The whole purpose is to ensure that when the record gets created, it is a validated record and follows through with multiple viewers and reviewers before it gets created. It is built with the SAP data model and incorporates replication to S4 or ECC based on what the company is using.

The interface in SAP Master Data Governance is easy to use for an end user. From my point of view, if they are trained well, the business is provided with the proper training, it is easy to deploy for IT. It is important that when you begin this journey of deploying the product, that you do not approach it from a technical standpoint but involve business design from the very beginning. While it may require some change management from the business side, once users are trained properly, they have always said that this is so much easier because it does not require you to know an ERP system or transaction codes. All you do is click on your role, enter information, and you have a form structure, which is much more business user-friendly than a screen filled with data fields that require a process to follow.

Regarding what SAP can do better in SAP Master Data Governance, they have an entire roadmap of constant improvements since they deployed the product, always adding new business functionality and add-ons. Each company may have different feedback, wishing for certain features. The essence of SAP Master Data Governance is to provide structure, and from my standpoint, it offers a pretty good structure. There will always be areas for improvement; for example, when I deployed it a few years ago, their approach to internal orders for finance was still new, and they were figuring out how it would work based on organizational requirements. The financial data objects are straightforward, but financial statements are a bit more challenging. It is not a one-time deployment; it requires ongoing investment in user and product knowledge, and you need to weigh the pros and cons of any IT solution. I often advise clients to walk before they run because establishing hierarchies requires having a designed structure before implementation, though you can add that later.

For additional functions in SAP Master Data Governance, it is interesting because on my project, we are already using AI technology for data cleansing before records are entered into SAP Master Data Governance. It would be beneficial to have the Dun & Bradstreet add-on within SAP Master Data Governance. However, one must remember that for AI to work effectively, it requires good data. Without that, AI does not make a difference. SAP Master Data Governance will always require a human perspective, especially to identify duplicate records. While SAP Master Data Governance provides technical capabilities for identifying potential duplicates based on searches, it requires human oversight due to the complexity of analyzing data fields. I believe integrating AI into the product could work, particularly after a solid data migration, which ensures that the records are reliable before utilizing AI for analytics.

My overall experience with SAP Master Data Governance is approximately ten years, off and on.

I find SAP Master Data Governance quite stable as an SAP product. It has been sold to hundreds of thousands of clients worldwide since its launch in 2006 or 2007. The product has changed significantly and improved over time, offering many more capabilities than before, so I would rate it a pretty stable product.

Regarding scalability when a company is growing, you can scale SAP Master Data Governance. Scaling involves the number of users and the amount of data, which typically comes at a cost.

The main competitor for SAP Master Data Governance includes several competing products. Oracle has its business suite, and Informatica offers its information steward. Each ERP system has similar products, but it can be difficult to make direct comparisons. For instance, EBX Orchestra Networks is out of the box; I once built a data platform for 160 sites similar to SAP Master Data Governance, which allows customization for many data objects. It is important to note that using the term Master Data Governance encompasses various products that do not always serve the same purpose. Data governance is broader, involving processes, people, policies, procedures, and guidelines, so simply having a tool does not imply full data governance.

The initial setup for SAP Master Data Governance can be seen as either simple or complex, depending on who you ask. For basic users without any technical background, it could be challenging. I have worked with seasoned developers who know the product well, and they can expedite tasks quickly. However, less experienced developers might find it more difficult. I advocate that SAP certification is beneficial for the product, but I am not SAP certified myself. My familiarity with the product speaks to my experience. As with any project, the more experience you have, the quicker and more efficiently you can complete tasks. Following SAP's instructions is crucial, and having good experience helps in delivering results faster and with more creativity.

The main requirement for the product is that it is highly advantageous to have SAP Master Data Governance sitting on top of your SAP ERP system. It is only used for some financial data objects, business partners like customers, suppliers, and materials. I have also deployed EAM for home enterprise asset management, but it allows companies to really govern their master data before it goes into the ERP system so that you do not have your ERP system full of unnecessary records and unnecessary data storage.

SAP Master Data Governance provides significant benefits to the user; it is an expensive product, but if it is designed and deployed well, it expedites an enormous amount of effort and time. It allows global corporations to use the same platform because you can interface it with multiple ERP systems and non-SAP products.

Regarding scalability when a company is growing, you can scale SAP Master Data Governance. Scaling involves the number of users and the amount of data, which typically comes at a cost.

Rating the pricing of SAP Master Data Governance is challenging. It is an expensive product. The value for money consideration depends on organizational size. For larger organizations, it is worth the investment. For smaller organizations, it is not; I understand that. A smaller organization would likely find it too costly to consider.

The setup process for SAP Master Data Governance is not strictly on-premises; it is cloud-based. There are multiple deployment options available. SAP Master Data Governance can primarily be deployed on SAP cloud services, though it may not be limited to just that.

My overall review rating for SAP Master Data Governance is eight out of ten.

Since the beginning of my career, I have been working on Talend, and I have been working with Qlik Talend Cloud for the last five years.

My main use cases for Qlik Talend Cloud include multiple scenarios. We have developed frameworks where we listen to Kafka streams, receive Kafka messages, ingest them, and after transformation, load those Kafka streams to the Snowflake data warehouse. Other use cases include API integrations, where we read data in the form of JSON from our clients and transform it as needed before loading it into the database. In case of any failure or no data, we trigger an email using SMTP settings. Additionally, we have a data vault integration within our Snowflake data warehouse where we have built a procedure to move data from one layer to another and execute those stored procedures using Talend. We have created a Talend framework that helps us execute Snowflake procedures, and in case of any issues, we have an audit logging job and framework to write all logs to the database, ensuring we can track whether everything is working fine.

Regarding Qlik Talend Cloud, for the Kafka framework, we have multiple topics to read data from Kafka. We built a generic framework in Talend Data Integration where we just need to configure the topic. We receive data in the form of JSON by listening to that Kafka topic. Once authenticated, we consume the messages from Kafka through Talend and load them into Snowflake. This generic framework allows us to easily onboard any new topic within one hour, just by configuring the Kafka topic consumer and the target table name.

There are multiple use cases with one of them being the Kafka framework I just mentioned.

The best features of Qlik Talend Cloud are tough to distinguish, but the Talend Management Cloud (TMC) platform allows us to schedule or monitor our jobs easily and in a user-friendly manner. You can build your job, monitor it, create a plan, and receive notifications for both failures and successes, making it a valuable feature. Another highlight is that whenever a new technology enters the market, Talend tends to be the first product to provide its connector.

Out of all the features, I find myself relying the most on quick connectors to new technologies. Whenever a new technology comes into the market, Talend is quick to offer a connector to connect and consume the data.

Talend has plenty of platforms including Talend Data Preparation, Talend Data Stewardship, and support for Big Data, which are significant.

Qlik Talend Cloud has positively impacted my organization, HCL, where there are multiple projects running, and we have a Center of Excellence team with over 50 Talend resources, 30 of whom are Talend certified developers. Talend is widely used across many projects, and it is contributing positively to the organization's growth and revenue.

Qlik Talend Cloud is doing well, but one improvement could be the integration of development functionalities we use in Talend Studio directly onto the Talend browser. Currently, that would allow us to perform drag-and-drop tasks online without needing to switch back to the studio.

The support in my experience is good, and the documentation is also helpful. However, having Talend Studio functionalities accessible through the browser would be a significant improvement.

In my current field, I am working for over 12 plus years.

Qlik Talend Cloud is quite stable now. It was not as stable when we were using TAC and on-premise systems, but currently, with Qlik Talend Cloud version 8.3 or 8.1, it is stable.

The scalability of Qlik Talend Cloud runs smoothly, and we are not facing any challenges.

The support in my experience is good, and the documentation is also helpful.

Customer support is good. Whenever we need assistance, we can raise a ticket, and responses are quite fast.

Positive

I previously used Informatica about 8 to 10 years ago, which was quite challenging as it had multiple windows to manage separately. In contrast, Talend provided a more integrated experience within a single window, making it easier to work with, offering plenty of components and transformations.

I evaluated Informatica a few years back as part of my decision-making process.

My advice for others considering Qlik Talend Cloud is that it is a good product that has everything required, even when compared to other well-known products. Talend is user-friendly and has many components and connectors, which makes it a great choice. New technologies are readily supported with connectors offered quickly by Talend. Skill development for new resources is also efficient. I would rate this product an 8 out of 10.