SAP Netweaver Master Data Management

Loren Heilig is the founder of IBSolution GmbH and has been its managing director since 2003. IBSolution GmbH is an innovative SAP NetWeaver service provider that has made a name for itself as a specialist in complex SAP NetWeaver projects. With predefined packages, IBSolution also proves that SAP projects don't always have to be expensive.Before founding IBSolution GmbH, Loren was a project lead at SAP Systems Integration AG and SAP AG. There he was responsible for setting up a BW consultancy team that focused on HR, and he coordinated the BW/HR projects at Saudi Aramco (in Saudi Arabia). In addition to more than twelve years of experience with the BW system (he implemented his first BW project with BW 1.2a), he has also conducted BW system training at SAP Germany and Switzerland for many years. Before beginning his professional career, Loren Heilig received a degree in industrial engineering from Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Germany.At IBSolution, he is responsible for the Sales and Marketing area. He also compiles the overall strategy of IBSolution and develops new business fields, such as master data processes and SAP NetWeaver Identity Management. Steffen Karch works as an Enterprise Architect for SAP Asia Pte Ltd based in Singapore. Previously, he was a Senior Business Consultant at SAP Deutschland AG & Co. KG, and before that he worked as an IT Project Manager at Pixelpark AG in Munich, Germany. His project work concentrates on strategic IT consulting with a special emphasis on matters of integration. For the past two years, he has been responsible for the Enterprise SOA area within SAP Business Consulting EMEA, where he has managed numerous projects associated with this subject. Steffen Karch has over 10 years of experience with SAP and has worked as a consultant for the last six years. Oliver Boettcher has been working for SAP in the area of Business Consulting since 2004. He focuses mainly on the topic of Enterprise Service Oriented Architecture (Enterprise SOA). He has been working on the administration of master data and variable data since his studies of information management. Christiane Hofmann has been working as a consultant in the field of Master Data Management at IBSolution GmbH. She focuses on the integration of MDM into the Enterprise Portal and the Business Information Warehouse. Before, she studied Information Business at the University of Media in Stuttgart where she participated in a study on Service Oriented Architectures on behalf of SAP. Dr. Roland Pfennig is Professor of Business Informatics at Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences. His teaching specialties are Business Intelligence, standard software for business, and business processes. His research interests include the complex set of topics surrounding the sustainability of an information society.

Acknowledgements ... 13 1 Introduction ... 15 2 Master Data and Application Systems in Companies ... 19 2.1 What Is Master Data? ... 19 2.2 Master Data in Enterprise IT ... 22 2.3 Examples of Problems with Master Data ... 28 2.4 Solutions for Master Data Management ... 35 2.5 Today's Requirements for Master Data Management ... 39 2.6 Conclusion ... 42 3 From Silo to Services - MDM as a Central Component of a Service-Oriented Architecture ... 45 3.1 Initial Situation at Many Companies ... 45 3.2 Basic Principles of Enterprise SOA ... 48 3.3 A Platform for Enterprise SOA: SAP NetWeaver ... 64 3.4 MDM as the Backbone of Enterprise SOA ... 68 3.5 Towards an Enterprise SOA ... 71 4 Overview of MDM ... 73 4.1 MDM Architecture ... 74 4.2 Overview of MDM Components ... 75 4.3 Available MDM Scenarios ... 83 4.4 SAP NetWeaver MDM as a Toolbox ... 93 5 MDM as a Basis for Identity Management ... 97 5.1 Company and IT Landscape ... 99 5.2 Scenario Description ... 102 5.3 Chosen Solution and Its Architecture ... 109 5.4 Implementation ... 112 5.5 Summary and Outlook ... 131 6 MDM in the Publishing Industry ... 133 6.1 Description of the Problem ... 134 6.2 The Enterprise and the IT Landscape ... 135 6.3 Scenario Description ... 139 6.4 Chosen Solution and Its Architecture ... 141 6.5 Implementation ... 147 6.6 Lessons Learned and a Look Ahead ... 159 7 MDM in an Enterprise Characterized by Mergers and Acquisitions ... 161 7.1 Description of the Problem ... 162 7.2 The Enterprise and the IT Landscape ... 162 7.3 Scenario Description ... 167 7.4 Chosen Solution and Its Architecture ... 172 7.5 Procedure ... 175 7.6 Lessons Learned and Future Prospects ... 180 8 MDM: Technical Details ... 183 8.1 Architecture in Detail ... 183 8.2 MDM Data Model ... 192 8.3 MDM Console ... 208 8.4 MDM Data Manager ... 216 8.5 MDM Import Manager/Server ... 226 8.6 MDM Syndicator/Server ... 246 8.7 MDM Publisher ... 256 8.8 Integration of SAP Components with MDM Business Content ... 263 8.9 Integration into the Portal ... 280 8.10 Workflows ... 288 8.11 MDM Programming Interfaces ... 295 8.12 Conclusion ... 306 9 Summary and Outlook ... 307 9.1 Why Master Data Management? ... 307 9.2 MDM as the Foundation of Enterprise SOA ... 309 9.3 Enterprise SOA and MDM in Practice ... 311 9.4 A Look Ahead ... 313 Appendix ... 315 A List of Acronyms ... 317 B Literature ... 321 C The Authors ... 323 Index ... 327