Using Reference Data Across Informatica Data Management Services

White Paper

Using Reference Data

Across Informatica

Data Management

Services

How to Govern, Operationalize

and Manage Reference Data

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Using Reference Data Across Informatica Data Management Services

Implementing Business Governance

Businesses need a way to dene reference data in their own terms

and relate it to processes, policies, stakeholders, organizational units

and other denitions. They also need to be able to understand where

that reference data is used throughout the enterprise. That’s where

Informatica can help.

Informatica Reference 360, which is built on the Informatica

Intelligent Data Management Cloud™ (IDMC), is an industry-leading,

fully cloud-enabled master data-fueled application that makes it

easier for organizations to leverage common reference data for

customers, products and suppliers.

Cloud Data Governance and Catalog

• Cloud Data Governance and Catalog (CDGC), a service of IDMC,

is used to dene the reference data as a glossary item regardless

of what the actual reference table name is.

y The glossary denition contains an overall description of the

reference data and a sample of the reference data for illustrative

purposes.

y The list of actual reference data values can be represented as a

data set in CDGC. This is required to link the reference data table

to processes and show up in the maps as part of lineage.

y The use of data sets allows the depiction of a more complete

“preview” of the actual records and identies / highlights what

specic reference data is used in mission-critical business

activities.

y Processes and policies that use the reference data can also be

related to the glossary denition of the reference data.

y Stakeholders who make decisions about or have an interest in

the reference data can be related to the glossary denition of the

reference data.

Informatica offers

multiple products to

help you with reference

data. The trick is to

know which products to

choose for governance

purposes, operational

use and overall

management.

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Using Reference Data Across Informatica Data Management Services

y CDGC can be used to scan systems to recognize where

instances of reference data are in use, capture metadata around

the reference data and perform domain categorization.

y The metadata can be tied back into the glossary denition and

update the relationships between the glossary denition and the

systems the reference data was found in.

The CDGC services in IDMC provide a powerful mechanism for

business users to navigate between policies and processes to

determine what reference data is relevant and then trace the

reference data glossary item to the identied data sets and systems

using that reference data.

Operationalizing Reference Data

Multiple tools, including both Informatica and other third-party tools

/ systems, need to use reference data in an operational way during

processing.

While it’s possible to dene the reference data in each tool that

needs it, it’s better to create an environment where the reference

data is dened and maintained in one central place and then re-used

throughout the enterprise.

Data Quality

• Informatica Data Quality (DQ) services can be used to dene

basic reference tables and help you quickly identify and

resolve data quality issues without any additional IT coding or

development.

y DQ allows business users to specify, validate and test re-usable

data quality rules in a streamlined and collaborative environment.

y Because both Reference 360 and DQ are built on IDMC, when

reference data is managed by Reference 360, a copy of the

reference data is used in data quality validations / cleansing.

Business

Governace

Operational

Use

Enterprise

Management

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Using Reference Data Across Informatica Data Management Services

Data Integration

y Informatica Cloud Data Integration (CDI) services can use the

reference tables in DQ directly during the extract, transform, load

(ETL) process.

y When reference data is managed by Reference 360, CDI can

extract the latest version of the reference data for its own use.

y CDI services are built on IDMC, offering a seamless way to import

and export reference data from Reference 360.

Master Data Management and 360 Applications

y The Master Data Management (MDM) and 360 applications in

IDMC (Customer 360, Product 360 and Supplier 360), can use a

copy of the Reference 360 tables.

y Any attribute dened in MDM and 360 applications can cross-

refence the data in Reference 360, allowing for the standard

denition of reference data for enterprise use.

y While Reference 360 offers complete life cycle management and

approval workflows for reference data, MDM and 360 applications

help manage other domain information along with relationship

data.

y Managing reference table instances can be confusing and error

prone if done manually. Copying reference data tables across

various product servers and keeping them consistent across

virtually all systems is no simple task.

Managing Reference Data at the Enterprise Level

Informatica Reference 360

y Reference 360 helps manage reference data from across your

enterprise in a single location.

y It performs the information management for the entire lifecycle

of reference data used across the enterprise, including version

control, change management and workflow approval processes.

Managing reference

table instances can

be confusing and

error prone if done

manually. Copying

reference data tables

across various product

servers and keeping

them consistent across

virtually all systems is

no simple task.

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Using Reference Data Across Informatica Data Management Services

y Reference data is dened directly or is initially loaded from virtually all source systems into Reference

360 using data integration services.

y If multiple systems contribute different content for the same reference table (i.e., one system has just

52 states while another has 52 + outlying areas), Reference 360 can master those instances and create

a standardized reference table.

y Reference 360 can also take similar values that are synonyms and create cross-walk tables to convert

to a standard value (i.e., incoming currency codes of USD, US, USX or USA can be standardized to just

USD).

y Reference 360 can then make the mastered reference data available to the target systems that need it

to keep virtually all the systems in sync with each other as the reference data changes over time.

y Depending on whether the reference data needs to be exported to the target system or imported by the

target system when it’s ready for it, synchronization can be accomplished using:

• APIs

• Message services (publish / subscribe)

• Batch le

• ETL

Managing reference data across the enterprise can be harder than it seems. Differences in coding

schemes across the enterprise can make it difcult to integrate reference data — and this is one of the

primary reasons why many data management initiatives fail. Errors in reference data can cause errors in

reports pulled from data across the enterprise. A comprehensive, cloud-based data reference management

solution streamlines management and distribution of reference data to drive accurate reporting, ERP

modernization, mergers and acquisitions consolidation and other key organizational initiatives.

If your reference data management solution works well with other data management capabilities such as

data governance, data cataloging, data integration, data quality and MDM, you can signicantly reduce

the manual work required to govern, use and manage this data. As a result, you can empower business

users to manage the complex lifecycle of reference data sets, simplify governance and compliance by

ensuring that reports have clean data, remove the operational overhead previously required from manual

reconciliation and accelerate time to value from data initiatives.

For best results, contact an Informatica Professional Services consultant at [email protected] to

create a strategic plan for your reference data.

Worldwide Headquarters

2100 Seaport Blvd,

Redwood City, CA 94063, USA

Phone: 650.385.5000

Fax: 650.385.5500

Toll-free in the US: 1.800.653.3871

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Informatica (NYSE: INFA) brings data and AI to life by empowering

businesses to realize the transformative power of their most critical

assets. When properly unlocked, data becomes a living and trusted

resource that is democratized across your organization, turning chaos

into clarity. Through the Informatica Intelligent Data Management

Cloud™, companies are breathing life into their data to drive bigger

ideas, create improved processes, and reduce costs. Powered by

CLAIRE

, our AI engine, it’s the only cloud dedicated to managing data

of any type, pattern, complexity, or workload across any location — all

on a single platform.

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Other company and product names may be trade names or trademarks of their respective owners. The information in this documentation

is subject to change without notice and provided “AS IS” without warranty of any kind, express or implied.

Using Reference Data Across Informatica Data Management Services