Data serves as a crucial foundation for business decisions, yet managing it remains a significant challenge in many organizations. In the battle against file chaos, metadata and master data become your most reliable allies. Let’s delve into how these two kinds of data interconnect and what lies beneath.
Definition: What are Metadata and Master Data?
When it comes to understanding the nuances between metadata and master data, let’s first scrutinize these terms.
Metadata: Your guide through the digital media landscape.
When navigating data management, metadata stands out as one of your most essential tools, allowing you to pinpoint files with utmost efficiency. In essence, metadata comprises information that describes digital media.
It reveals details like the size of an image file, the camera used to capture a photo, or the creator of a video. Delving deeper into this subject is worthwhile, so grab a coffee, leisurely peruse our metadata guide, and learn everything about metadata.
Master Data: The backbone of your business.
While metadata serves to describe individual digital assets, master data provides a comprehensive overview of everything that defines a business. These data encompass various aspects of an enterprise, such as:
Customers: Names and addresses
Employees: Salary and job title
Products: Article number and price
Typically found in software systems like customer relationship management tools (CRM), enterprise resource planning tools (ERP), or HR management software, master data ideally facilitates seamless data exchange among these systems to ensure data accuracy and prevent duplicates.
Metadata vs. Master Data Management
For metadata and master data to support you in daily operations, regular maintenance and efficient management are essential.
Metadata management involves establishing rules for metadata administration, simplifying file usage. For instance, a uniform system for metadata descriptions ensures that everyone in the company knows which keywords to use when searching for specific files, saving time in daily tasks.
Master data management, on the other hand, emphasizes cost savings. Master data forms the basis for business decisions. The better the data is maintained, the more informed decisions can be made, positively impacting a company’s costs.
Hence, the upkeep of master data is crucial, as only current, and accurate master data can prevent errors and inefficiencies in business processes.
Why Your Company Should Value Well-Maintained Metadata and Master Data
Both metadata management and master data management contribute to increased efficiency within a company. To maintain metadata for file management and critical business master data, tools and rules are required. Master data is best managed in an ERP system or a tool for product information management (PIM).
For your digital media metadata, there’s pixx.io: This Digital Asset Management tool allows you to maintain, modify, and add metadata to navigate effortlessly through thousands of media files.
pixx.io also offers integrations to your PIM or your webshop, ensuring that, for example, the master data of your products and the metadata of your product images speak the same language.
Metadata and Master Data: Two Building Blocks for Your Data Strategy
In data management, considering both metadata and master data is crucial. The easiest way to achieve this is with a Data Governance approach. Learn more about this in our blog article on the subject.
And if you want to start managing your metadata in an intuitive DAM from now on, try pixx.io for free.
Sabrina
Sabrina writes for pixx.io about everything that concerns you in your day-to-day work and helps you to overcome challenges in content and social media marketing, image formats or compliance. When it comes to complex topics, she prepares the knowledge of media and legal experts for you in an understandable way.
