Master Data Management

Master Data Management and Data Privacy: Balancing Security

There is no denying the fact that data is the most valuable currency of the contemporary business world. And master data services have made it possible for businesses to harness this beast and power everything from business operations to customer support. Modern businesses have continued to collect more and more data, utilising it across different applications to gain data-rich insights. And thus, it has become imperative to implement robust data management and security protocols to protect the privacy of the business and its customers.


Why is security important in data gathering and management

Data is essential to enabling data-driven decision-making and future-proof strategic planning for modern businesses. However, without the right MDM security policy and stringent data privacy protocols, there is an ever-growing risk of data compromise, which can have devastating consequences for the business. Protecting your data from cyber-attacks, phishing attacks, data breaches, or other forms of cybercrime is essential to ensure your data is safe and your customers' privacy is intact.

Additionally, data management and security protocols also ensure you have access to quality data, filtering low-quality data and protecting your database from corruption for driving your data-forward strategic position. And although some industries may be more vulnerable to or at risk of data breaches, focusing on data security is integral for data gathering and management for any business that wants to succeed in today’s digital business ecosystem.


How does MDM support privacy compliance?

As data has become a perpetual existence in the everyday lives of people around the globe, governments and regulatory bodies have been quick to realise the devastating consequences of sensitive data falling into the wrong hands. And since businesses cannot operate efficiently without relying on customer and market data, government bodies have developed many regulatory and compliance frameworks – GDPR, HIPPA, SOC II, CCPA, DCI-PSS – to protect consumer privacy and data security. However, as there are no global standards for data privacy and security, there is no standard method to enforce them.

Master data management security protocols can help you overcome this issue by providing the foundational framework that can support data governance and control underlined within the privacy compliance frameworks. Additionally, master data services also help streamline the data subject request process, allowing you to implement effective policies and procedures for consent management and achieve privacy compliance.


How does MDM support data privacy and security?

Aside from regulatory compliance, data privacy and security have significant real-world consequences for businesses, ranging from regulatory fines and financial losses to a tarnished brand image and lost customer trust. Although intangible, brand image and customer trust are two of the most critical contributing factors to organisational success in contemporary times.

Here’s how a robust master data management policy can help you develop an effective data strategy, especially when it comes to data security and privacy:

Ensure the cleanliness of data sources

Data quality is the foundation of MDM effectiveness, but collecting data from different sources, identifying and removing duplicate information, and eliminating wrong (or incomplete) information can bog down processes and slow down data use. MDM ensures that the data available to users is clean, authentic and reliable through several data cleaning, authentication, and authorisation processes, flagging any suspicious activity to trigger immediate security protocols.

Protect against data breaches

While ensuring the cleanliness of the data sources, master data services also identify the data that is crucial for business success and you must protect. And with centralised systems to manage all the critical data assets, MDM makes it easier to monitor any suspicious activity, identify malicious intent, and respond to potential data breach attempts.

Ensure data privacy

MDM ensures there is a single version of the truth when it comes to enterprise data and business-critical sensitive information. As such, only authorised personnel can access this data, ensuring data privacy. This is particularly important for businesses handling sensitive private information, like healthcare records or financial data.

Improve data governance

Master data management policies help companies establish clear ownership and stewardship over enterprise data. This ensures improved data governance while also ensuring ethical data usage and compliance with regulatory requirements.
These are just some instances where MDM helps businesses ensure the security and privacy of enterprise data. Modern master data services offer businesses many frameworks and foundations to balance data security and privacy with data-driven insights to build future-proof business strategies.

For organisations on the digital transformation journey, agility is key in responding to a rapidly changing technology and business landscape. Now more than ever, it is crucial to deliver and exceed on organisational expectations with a robust digital mindset backed by innovation. Enabling businesses to sense, learn, respond, and evolve like a living organism, will be imperative for business excellence going forward. A comprehensive, yet modular suite of services is doing exactly that. Equipping organisations with intuitive decision-making automatically at scale, actionable insights based on real-time solutions, anytime/anywhere experience, and in-depth data visibility across functions leading to hyper-productivity, Live Enterprise is building connected organisations that are innovating collaboratively for the future.


How can Infosys BPM help?

Infosys BPM master data management solutions help you streamline your business processes with improved data quality and effective governance controls over your enterprise data. Covering advisory, data quality management, digital transformation, and continuous MDM operation support, Infosys BPM master data services ensure you derive the maximum benefits by improving enterprise operational efficiency and effectiveness. And with next-gen RPA, AI, and ML-led solutions, you have access to master data services security protocols that can help you derive actionable insights while ensuring privacy compliance and security of your enterprise data.


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