MDM as a core NetWeaver component

MDM is a wonderful tool for data consolidation and harmonization. All customers with multiple applications, each with multiple definitions of data assets, soon or later will face redundancy, waste, and lots of lost opportunities. MDM comes along to solve all this, and while it can be used as an standalone application, I’ve found that using it with other NetWeaver components will greatly help to raise its value.

In order to demonstrate the huge flexibility of MDM as a core part of NetWeaver, I propose the following architecture as a simulation of data integration system:

In this example, I’m planning to use any standard SQL based system such as mySql or even MS Excel to demonstrate its flexibility and ease of use. Both sources should have different data structure and some duplicated data, such as in real life. MDM will then harmonize and syndicate all data using XI as the main media for this. This way, we will be able to use XI characteristics such as workflow integration.

It’s clear that the same integration could be done without SAP XI, however, establishing point to point connections will probe to be unmanageable due to the overhead caused by the addition of new systems, duplication of business objects and lack of transparency on the data flow. By introducing XI, all data will become compatible and as a result we will obtain a highly scalable landscape, reducing costs and time of implementation.

I am currently developing this architecture and I want to share my results. Soon I’ll post my experiences, recommendations and problems I encounter during this process.