MDM Data Modeling & Master Data Architecture 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Informatica MDM, which process determines the final attribute values of the golden record by selecting among competing source system values?
- Data profiling
- Survivorship (Correct answer)
- Tokenization
- Deduplication
Correct answer: Survivorship
Survivorship rules evaluate competing attribute values from multiple source systems and select the best value based on trust scores, recency, or custom logic.
Question 2: Which Informatica MDM feature allows a data model to support multiple entity types (e.g., Person and Organization) under a single base object using a type discriminator?
- Subtype modeling using a base object with a record type column (Correct answer)
- Separate base objects per entity type with no relationship
- Hierarchy management with parent-child nodes
- Many-to-many relationship tables
Correct answer: Subtype modeling using a base object with a record type column
Subtype modeling uses a single base object with a discriminator column (e.g., PARTY_TYPE) to distinguish between entity types, reducing model complexity.
Question 3: What is the risk of setting match thresholds too low in an Informatica MDM match configuration?
- Increased false negatives — valid duplicates are missed
- Increased false positives — non-duplicate records are incorrectly merged (Correct answer)
- Slower staging performance due to excess processing
- Records are routed to manual review instead of auto-merging
Correct answer: Increased false positives — non-duplicate records are incorrectly merged
Setting match thresholds too low increases false positives, causing distinct records to be incorrectly identified as duplicates and merged.
Question 4: In Informatica MDM, what does the 'source system' configuration in Hub Console primarily define?
- The ETL schedule for loading data into staging tables
- The trusted source of each attribute and the contribution rules for that system's data in the hub (Correct answer)
- The network connection settings for the source database
- The security roles granted to users from that source system
Correct answer: The trusted source of each attribute and the contribution rules for that system's data in the hub
Source system configuration defines the system's trust level, contribution rules, and how its data interacts with other systems' records during consolidation.
Question 5: Which normalization strategy is typically AVOIDED in MDM base object design because it hinders match performance?
- Storing names as a single full-name field instead of first/last components (Correct answer)
- Using foreign keys to link child objects
- Assigning surrogate keys to base objects
- Separating address into street, city, and postal code fields
Correct answer: Storing names as a single full-name field instead of first/last components
Storing a full name as a single concatenated field prevents effective tokenization and fuzzy matching on individual name components.
Question 6: In the context of Informatica MDM multi-domain architecture, what challenge does a 'shared business entity' (e.g., a shared Address object) across Customer and Supplier domains introduce?
- It prevents hierarchy management from functioning across domains
- It creates governance complexity because changes to the shared entity affect multiple domains and stewardship teams (Correct answer)
- It forces all domains to use the same trust settings
- It requires all source systems to use identical record identifiers
Correct answer: It creates governance complexity because changes to the shared entity affect multiple domains and stewardship teams
A shared entity introduces cross-domain governance challenges because modifications to its structure or rules impact all domains and their respective data stewards.
Question 7: What is the purpose of the 'delta detection' step in Informatica MDM's load process?
- To identify new or changed source records since the last load, avoiding reprocessing of unchanged data (Correct answer)
- To detect data quality errors before records enter the staging table
- To compare match scores between consecutive MDM runs
- To flag records that have been manually edited by data stewards
Correct answer: To identify new or changed source records since the last load, avoiding reprocessing of unchanged data
Delta detection compares incoming source records against the previous load to identify only new or changed records, improving load efficiency.
MDM Data Modeling & Master Data Architecture 5
In Informatica MDM, which process determines the final attribute values of the golden record by selecting among competing source system values?