The institution puts into practice specific processes to manage change, maintenance and the evolution of the master data system.
As the master data system is at the core of the institution’s information systems and is used by a large number of systems, change and evolution have to be managed so as to minimize impacts and service disruptions. Therefore, the information model of the master data system should reflect the concepts used throughout the institution.
In addition, although the master data model and its implementation are considered to be stable, some maintenance operations will need to be executed. These operations should be part of the continuous improvements in the institution. Institutions should consider master data maintenance as part of the master data management activities. In turn, these activities will guarantee that the master data are updated, including integrity rules associated with the master data model.
- The Master Data Stewardship Council should manage requested changes to the master data by means of the configuration management system.
- The Master Data Stewardship Council should put into practice measures to improve the master data sets.
- Procedures to carry out an impact analysis should cover:
- The master data system, establishing whether the change implies disruptions in services;
- The systems using the master data, assessing the consequences in terms of disruptions in services as well as in making changes to these systems.
- Concerning change management, the Master Data Stewardship Council should:
- Identify the set of actions in a continuous way so that master data can be improved when necessary. It should make a plan to assess the viability of the actions;
- Determine approaches to carry out the changes in order to minimize costs and system disruptions;
- Define a change work plan so that several changes may be carried out at a time.
- The Master Data Governance Committee should establish change management practices on the master data system which minimize the impact on other systems as well as disruptions in operations.
- Processing change requirements on the master data system should start with an impact analysis on master data operations, as well as on the other systems, in order to determine overall costs and potential disruptions.
- The Master Data Stewardship Council should:
- Implement a configuration management system that can help to maintain the baseline of the master data sets;
- Execute the corresponding activities in order to implement continuous improvement of master data, paying special attention to the concepts included in the master data as well as the business rules associated with the master data model.
- The Master Data Management Committee can use the principles on master data quality provided in ISO 8000-60.
- The implementation of change and evolution of management practices should be based on the institution’s project and development frameworks and models defined in the master data system.