Reference Data Management Glossary
A glossary of reference data management terms, from master data and reference data to MDM and RDM.
A growing glossary of terms used across reference data management, master data management, and the broader enterprise data architecture discipline. Browse the terms below, grouped by letter.
M
- Master data
- Master data is the core non-transactional data entities like customers, employees, products, suppliers, accounts etc. that participate in the activities and events of your business processes.
- Master Data Management
- Master Data Management is a discipline focused on matching records (across systems), deduplicating, and applying survivorship rules to generate a canonical "golden record" for each coreMaster Data record in your business.
R
- Reference data
- Reference Data is the lists of valid values behind the attributes of key business entities in Operational Systems.
- Reference Data Management
- Reference Data Management (RDM) is the practice of governing and distributing the code lists, classifications, hierarchies, and cross-system mappings that operational systems run on and that every reporting, analytics, integration, and migration initiative depends on.