Bloor InBrief - SAP Master Data Governance
An evaluation for SAP Master Data Governance by Bloor Research. Download the Document© Bloor 2025two decades, and SAP Master Data Governance
(SAP MDG) is the software that SAP offers
to handle this master data. It supports the
creation, validation, and distribution of master
data based on business rules, including the
identification of duplicate records and the
consolidation of these into a single, trusted
source. SAP MDG includes full data quality
functionality such as data cleansing, validation,
and ongoing data quality monitoring.
What does it do?
SAP MDG can be deployed either on-premises or in both private
and public clouds. It can be integrated within the broader SAP
S/4HANA suite or deployed as a stand-alone hub. Unusually
amongst MDM products, there is the capacity to deploy the
www.sap.com
Dietmar-Hopp-Allee 16, 69190 Walldorf, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)6227 / 7-47474
SAP Master Data
Governance (SAP MDG)
The company
SAP is an enterprise software company that was founded in
1972 and is headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. It is a publicly
quoted company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, selling
enterprise application software, with packaged solutions for
26 industries. SAP has over 109,000 employees in over 157
countries, and in 2024, its revenues grew 10% to over €34
billion ($37 billion), with over 440,000 corporate customers
in over 180 countries. Customers include Ford, Coca-
Cola, Shell, Nestle and Sony. Around 85% of the
Fortune 500 use SAP.
What is it?
Master data management (MDM) is how
enterprises deal with business context data
such as customers, products, assets and
locations. This data spans multiple corporate
applications, with many different systems
usually holding information about core business
entities like customers and products. MDM is
a discipline focused on creating and maintaining a
unified, trusted source of core business-critical data. Data
governance is the set of business policies, processes and
roles that support this, such as data quality standards and
stewardship. The software industry has offered specialist
solutions that help companies manage this kind of data for over
Figure 1 – Trusted master data is the foundation of digital transformation
Andy Hayler – Practice Leader, Data as an Asset
C
R
E
A
T
I
V
I
T
Y
SCA
L
E
T
E
C
H
N
O
L
O
G
Y
E
X
E
C U T I O N
This Mutable
Quadrant is derived
from 13 high level
metrics, the more
the image covers
a section the
better. Execution
metrics relate
to the company,
Technology to the
product, Creativity
to both technical
and business
innovation and
Scale covers the
potential business
and market impact.
“
SAP Master Data
Governance lets us govern
specific data attributes. We
can enforce compliance rules in
a way that ensures a clear picture
of our enterprise data across
business areas and systems.
”
Christine Justice, Senior Director
Master Data Enterprise,
Fleet and Logistics, Evoqua
Water Technologie
(SAP MDG) is the software that SAP offers
to handle this master data. It supports the
creation, validation, and distribution of master
data based on business rules, including the
identification of duplicate records and the
consolidation of these into a single, trusted
source. SAP MDG includes full data quality
functionality such as data cleansing, validation,
and ongoing data quality monitoring.
What does it do?
SAP MDG can be deployed either on-premises or in both private
and public clouds. It can be integrated within the broader SAP
S/4HANA suite or deployed as a stand-alone hub. Unusually
amongst MDM products, there is the capacity to deploy the
www.sap.com
Dietmar-Hopp-Allee 16, 69190 Walldorf, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)6227 / 7-47474
SAP Master Data
Governance (SAP MDG)
The company
SAP is an enterprise software company that was founded in
1972 and is headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. It is a publicly
quoted company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, selling
enterprise application software, with packaged solutions for
26 industries. SAP has over 109,000 employees in over 157
countries, and in 2024, its revenues grew 10% to over €34
billion ($37 billion), with over 440,000 corporate customers
in over 180 countries. Customers include Ford, Coca-
Cola, Shell, Nestle and Sony. Around 85% of the
Fortune 500 use SAP.
What is it?
Master data management (MDM) is how
enterprises deal with business context data
such as customers, products, assets and
locations. This data spans multiple corporate
applications, with many different systems
usually holding information about core business
entities like customers and products. MDM is
a discipline focused on creating and maintaining a
unified, trusted source of core business-critical data. Data
governance is the set of business policies, processes and
roles that support this, such as data quality standards and
stewardship. The software industry has offered specialist
solutions that help companies manage this kind of data for over
Figure 1 – Trusted master data is the foundation of digital transformation
Andy Hayler – Practice Leader, Data as an Asset
C
R
E
A
T
I
V
I
T
Y
SCA
L
E
T
E
C
H
N
O
L
O
G
Y
E
X
E
C U T I O N
This Mutable
Quadrant is derived
from 13 high level
metrics, the more
the image covers
a section the
better. Execution
metrics relate
to the company,
Technology to the
product, Creativity
to both technical
and business
innovation and
Scale covers the
potential business
and market impact.
“
SAP Master Data
Governance lets us govern
specific data attributes. We
can enforce compliance rules in
a way that ensures a clear picture
of our enterprise data across
business areas and systems.
”
Christine Justice, Senior Director
Master Data Enterprise,
Fleet and Logistics, Evoqua
Water Technologie
© Bloor 2025product in a federated fashion. Most
MDM products are deployed centrally,
providing a single hub for storing master
data. This works fine in many cases,
especially when the customer itself has
a centralized culture. However, many large
global enterprises are quite decentralized, with
a central core organization but with many decisions
devolved to operating units, often spread across the world.
Each decentralized operating unit may have substantial
autonomy, for example having the ability to create localized
products aimed at a specific market. In such organizations
it makes sense to manage the master data locally, where it
is best understood, with only some core attributes stored
centrally. For example, a multi-national company may have
a core set of global brands, but with each region or country
free to develop unique brands targeted at specific countries
or market segments, or handle local regulatory requirements.
SAP MDG allows a federated deployment, whereby multiple
MDM hubs are deployed as needed to local businesses or
operating units. A central, corporate MDM hub is connected
(and synchronized) with multiple distributed hubs, with only a
subset of master data controlled centrally in such cases. This
deployment option is rare in the industry and gives a genuine
competitive advantage over other MDM products, where this
deployment style makes more sense than a centralized, one-
size-fits-all all model.
Another specific example that SAP MDG can handle well
is business partner hierarchies. These hierarchies can be
imported, validated and then a legal entity hierarchy can be
derived and managed centrally. This can be replicated and
distributed in a controlled manner to downstream systems.
SAP has a partnership with Swiss data provider “Corporate
Data Quality” (CDQ), which uses more than seventy different
sources of data to help to validate and automatically enrich to
produce a trusted corporate record.
SAP MDG makes use of generative AI
to allow a “summary of changes”, a natural
language explanation of upcoming master data
changes (aimed at non-technical users). Its
“assisted change” feature allows users to change
master data attributes via natural language prompts.
Customers can choose which LLM model to e.g. ChatGPT
or Claude etc for prompt execution. Natural language prompts
can also be used to query to get details on business partner data
(via SAP Joule, an AI co-pilot). Business users can initiate master
data creation or changes from their current work context (within
the SAP S/4HANA business suite / applications).
Why should you care?
While some global companies are highly centralized, many
are not, allowing local regions or business units a high level of
autonomy in terms of data governance rules and policies. This
is particularly the case where products need to be tailored to
the needs of specific local markets and tastes. In such situations,
most MDM software products only offer a centralized hub
approach, which may not suit the culture of the company and the
need for it to maintain localized product lines, for example. This
capability is something that has long been neglected by the MDM
industry, and the SAP MDG ability to be deployed in a federated
manner gives a distinct advantage compared to other MDM tools
that do not have this capability.
The bottom line
The SAP Master Data Governance software is a full-function
master data management suite that is well suited to address the
needs of handling master data across a complex enterprise. It will
particularly appeal to companies that have already committed to
the SAP Business suite, though it is also able to handle non-SAP
data. Its ability to be deployed in a federated fashion is rare in the
industry and gives it a competitive advantage in companies where
that approach is suitable.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND RESEARCH CLICK HERE
“
The consistent
centralized data model
across our organization allows
us to replicate data to downstream
systems in minutes. In fact, we
can now replicate a full data set in
just seven minutes. It used to take
between five and seven days.
”
Markus Buschky, Head of Customer
Care and Financial Core – Director
(SVP) Corporate IT, Deutsche
Börse Group
Figure 2 – SAP Master Data Governance versions according to business needs, using a centrally managed MDG approach
MDM products are deployed centrally,
providing a single hub for storing master
data. This works fine in many cases,
especially when the customer itself has
a centralized culture. However, many large
global enterprises are quite decentralized, with
a central core organization but with many decisions
devolved to operating units, often spread across the world.
Each decentralized operating unit may have substantial
autonomy, for example having the ability to create localized
products aimed at a specific market. In such organizations
it makes sense to manage the master data locally, where it
is best understood, with only some core attributes stored
centrally. For example, a multi-national company may have
a core set of global brands, but with each region or country
free to develop unique brands targeted at specific countries
or market segments, or handle local regulatory requirements.
SAP MDG allows a federated deployment, whereby multiple
MDM hubs are deployed as needed to local businesses or
operating units. A central, corporate MDM hub is connected
(and synchronized) with multiple distributed hubs, with only a
subset of master data controlled centrally in such cases. This
deployment option is rare in the industry and gives a genuine
competitive advantage over other MDM products, where this
deployment style makes more sense than a centralized, one-
size-fits-all all model.
Another specific example that SAP MDG can handle well
is business partner hierarchies. These hierarchies can be
imported, validated and then a legal entity hierarchy can be
derived and managed centrally. This can be replicated and
distributed in a controlled manner to downstream systems.
SAP has a partnership with Swiss data provider “Corporate
Data Quality” (CDQ), which uses more than seventy different
sources of data to help to validate and automatically enrich to
produce a trusted corporate record.
SAP MDG makes use of generative AI
to allow a “summary of changes”, a natural
language explanation of upcoming master data
changes (aimed at non-technical users). Its
“assisted change” feature allows users to change
master data attributes via natural language prompts.
Customers can choose which LLM model to e.g. ChatGPT
or Claude etc for prompt execution. Natural language prompts
can also be used to query to get details on business partner data
(via SAP Joule, an AI co-pilot). Business users can initiate master
data creation or changes from their current work context (within
the SAP S/4HANA business suite / applications).
Why should you care?
While some global companies are highly centralized, many
are not, allowing local regions or business units a high level of
autonomy in terms of data governance rules and policies. This
is particularly the case where products need to be tailored to
the needs of specific local markets and tastes. In such situations,
most MDM software products only offer a centralized hub
approach, which may not suit the culture of the company and the
need for it to maintain localized product lines, for example. This
capability is something that has long been neglected by the MDM
industry, and the SAP MDG ability to be deployed in a federated
manner gives a distinct advantage compared to other MDM tools
that do not have this capability.
The bottom line
The SAP Master Data Governance software is a full-function
master data management suite that is well suited to address the
needs of handling master data across a complex enterprise. It will
particularly appeal to companies that have already committed to
the SAP Business suite, though it is also able to handle non-SAP
data. Its ability to be deployed in a federated fashion is rare in the
industry and gives it a competitive advantage in companies where
that approach is suitable.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND RESEARCH CLICK HERE
“
The consistent
centralized data model
across our organization allows
us to replicate data to downstream
systems in minutes. In fact, we
can now replicate a full data set in
just seven minutes. It used to take
between five and seven days.
”
Markus Buschky, Head of Customer
Care and Financial Core – Director
(SVP) Corporate IT, Deutsche
Börse Group
Figure 2 – SAP Master Data Governance versions according to business needs, using a centrally managed MDG approach