MDM Data Governance & Stewardship Frameworks — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary role of a data steward in a Master Data Management program?
- To maintain data quality, enforce data standards, and resolve data issues within their domain (Correct answer)
- To write SQL queries for all database operations
- To purchase and install database hardware
- To design the user interface for data entry forms
Correct answer: To maintain data quality, enforce data standards, and resolve data issues within their domain
Data stewards are business-side custodians responsible for the quality, consistency, and governance of master data within their specific domain, acting as the bridge between business requirements and technical implementation.
Question 2: In Informatica MDM, what is a 'trust score' used for?
- To determine which source system's data values should be used when records from multiple sources are merged (Correct answer)
- To measure user satisfaction with the MDM application
- To calculate the cost of data storage
- To evaluate the speed of data processing
Correct answer: To determine which source system's data values should be used when records from multiple sources are merged
Trust scores in Informatica MDM quantify the reliability of data values from different source systems. During the merge/survivorship process, higher trust scores indicate which values should be retained as the 'golden record.'
Question 3: What is a 'golden record' in the context of Master Data Management?
- The single, authoritative, and most trusted version of a master data entity (Correct answer)
- The first record ever created in the MDM system
- A backup copy of all data stored offline
- A record that has never been modified since creation
Correct answer: The single, authoritative, and most trusted version of a master data entity
A golden record is the consolidated, best-of-breed version of a master data entity created by merging attributes from multiple source records, representing the single source of truth.
Question 4: What is the purpose of data profiling in an MDM implementation?
- To analyze existing data to understand its quality, structure, and content before migration (Correct answer)
- To restrict user access to sensitive data fields
- To compress data for faster processing
- To create backup copies of production databases
Correct answer: To analyze existing data to understand its quality, structure, and content before migration
Data profiling examines source data to identify quality issues (duplicates, missing values, inconsistencies), understand data patterns, and plan data cleansing strategies before loading into the MDM hub.
Question 5: What does 'survivorship' mean in Informatica MDM merge operations?
- The rules that determine which attribute values are retained when multiple records are consolidated into one (Correct answer)
- The ability of the system to recover after a crash
- The longest-running record in the database
- The process of archiving inactive records
Correct answer: The rules that determine which attribute values are retained when multiple records are consolidated into one
Survivorship rules define which field values from overlapping source records will 'survive' into the golden record during consolidation, based on factors like trust scores, recency, and source system priority.
Question 6: What is the difference between a 'registry style' and a 'consolidation style' MDM implementation?
- Registry keeps data in source systems and maintains references; consolidation copies and merges data into a central hub (Correct answer)
- Registry is for small organizations; consolidation is for large enterprises
- Registry uses cloud storage; consolidation uses on-premise servers
- There is no meaningful difference between the two styles
Correct answer: Registry keeps data in source systems and maintains references; consolidation copies and merges data into a central hub
A registry style MDM creates a central index that points to data in source systems without copying it, while a consolidation style physically copies and merges data into a central hub to create golden records.
MDM Data Governance & Stewardship Frameworks
What is the primary role of a data steward in a Master Data Management program?