Configuring Survivorship in Informatica IDMC MDM SaaS

 This article provides a comprehensive guide to configuring survivorship rules within Informatica IDMC MDM SaaS, using the example of a person business entity. Survivorship is a critical process for establishing the "best version of truth" for data records by defining how conflicting information from various source systems should be resolved.

Understanding the Basics

The process begins by accessing the "person" business entity, which encompasses various components such as the data model, data flow, data quality rules, match survivorship, and event configurations. Before diving into the configuration, it's essential to identify several key prerequisites:

• Source Systems: Determine all the source systems that contribute data and will be part of the survivorship rules.

• Target Fields: Pinpoint the specific fields that require survivorship application. For instance, fields like first name, middle name, last name, and date of birth are typically subject to survivorship, while others like place of birth might not be.

• Survivorship Rules: Define the specific rules, including any maximum and minimum percentage scores, that will govern how data conflicts are resolved.

Navigating Survivorship Settings

The survivorship configuration options are conveniently located within the left-hand side panel of the business entity interface. Here, you'll find a clear display of fields like first name, middle name, and last name, along with their associated rules. It's important to note that some fields, such as "prefix" and "suffix," may inherit their rules from the parent level (in this case, the person business entity). Conversely, fields like "first name," "middle name," and "last name," often have specific ranks applied to them, indicating their priority in the survivorship process.

Step-by-Step Configuration

Configuring survivorship involves several key steps:

1. Source Ranking: Select a field (e.g., "prefix name") and configure its source ranking. All source systems previously set up in the Business 360 console will be available for selection and ranking.

2. Creating New Ranks: You have the flexibility to create new ranks by choosing specific source systems and adding them to the rank. For example, you might create "rank five" that includes "Informatica customer 360" and "default" source systems.

3. Applying Ranks: Once a new rank is created, it must be explicitly applied to the relevant field to take effect.

4. Rule Configuration (Decay Rules): A powerful feature is the ability to apply "Decay minimum and maximum trust score" rules. This involves selecting a rule type (Decay, minimum, or maximum), choosing a source system, and setting parameters such as the maximum trust score (e.g., 80%), minimum trust score (e.g., 40%), Decay unit (e.g., years), and Decay period (e.g., 10 years). After applying Decay rules, a visual graph is displayed, allowing you to further refine the Decay pattern (linear, rapid initial/slow later, or slow initial/rapid later).

5. Dependent Fields: Survivorship for one field can be made dependent on another. For instance, the "prefix name" might be evaluated based on the "full name" field.

6. Applying Rules to Multiple Fields: For efficiency, you can select multiple fields simultaneously (e.g., suffix name, title, description) and apply the same survivorship rules and source ranking to all of them in one go.

7. Saving Configuration: After making any changes to the survivorship configuration, it is crucial to save your work to ensure the new rules are applied.

By following these steps, users can effectively configure survivorship in Informatica IDMC MDM SaaS, leading to more accurate and reliable master data.

Learn more about Informatica IDMC here

Understanding the Consolidation Indicator in Informatica IDMC Customer 360 MDM SaaS

 The Consolidation Indicator (CI) field is a crucial element in Informatica IDMC Customer 360 MDM SaaS, playing a vital role in managing and consolidating data. This indicator helps track the state of data records as they move through the matching and merging process, ultimately leading to the creation of a "best version of truth" for each unique entity.

The CI field can take on four distinct values, each signifying a different stage in the data consolidation lifecycle:

• Match Dirty: This is the initial state for data records when they are first loaded or updated within MDM SaaS. It indicates that the record is new or has been modified and needs to be processed for potential matches.

• Match Index: After the indexing job runs, the CI value transitions from "Match Dirty" to "Match Index." In this state, records are prepared to participate in the matching process. If re-indexing is required for any reason, the CI value can be reset back to "Match Dirty."

• Matched: A record receives the "Matched" CI value once it has gone through the match and merge process. This applies whether a matching candidate was found or not.

• Consolidated: This is the final and most desirable state for a merged record. "Consolidated" signifies that a unique and accurate "best version of truth" record has been successfully created.

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Beyond these core values, there are several important aspects related to the CI field:

• Accept as Unique: If the "accept as unique" option is enabled for a record that undergoes the match and merge process but doesn't find any matching rules, its state will change from "Match Index" to "Matched." This allows the record to be treated as unique even without a direct match.

• XREF Record Updates: When an XREF (cross-reference) record is updated, its CI value automatically reverts to "Match Index." This ensures that the updated XREF record is re-evaluated through the match and merge process.

• CI Field Location: A key distinction in MDM SaaS compared to on-premise MDM is the placement of the CI field. In MDM SaaS, the CI field is located at the XREF level, not the business entity level. This granular placement provides more precise control over data consolidation.

• Extracting Consolidated Records: To extract only the consolidated records, a two-step extraction process is necessary. This involves creating one extract for business entity records and another for XREF records. These two extracts can then be joined to filter and retrieve only the consolidated values.

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In summary, the Consolidation Indicator is a fundamental component of Informatica IDMC Customer 360 MDM SaaS, providing clear visibility into the data consolidation journey and enabling robust data management practices.

Introduction to Reltio Master Data Management

 In today’s digital economy, data is the foundation of successful business operations. However, with data pouring in from countless sources — sales platforms, marketing systems, customer service channels, and more — many organizations struggle with fragmented, inconsistent, or outdated information. This is where Master Data Management (MDM) comes in, and Reltio is a leading player in this space.

Reltio Master Data Management is a modern, cloud-native MDM platform designed to help enterprises consolidate, cleanse, and unify their critical data assets. By creating a single, trusted source of truth, Reltio enables businesses to drive better decisions, improve customer experiences, and enhance compliance.

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A Brief History of Reltio

Reltio was founded in 2011 by Manish Sood, a data industry veteran who saw the limitations of legacy MDM systems firsthand. With its headquarters in Redwood City, California, Reltio set out to build a next-generation MDM platform, designed for the cloud and for the demands of modern data-driven enterprises.

Since then, Reltio has grown rapidly, attracting investment from major venture capital firms and building a customer base across Fortune 500 organizations in healthcare, life sciences, financial services, retail, and other sectors. Its platform is recognized by industry analysts (such as Gartner and Forrester) for its innovation, scalability, and business value.

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Why Reltio?

Unlike traditional on-premise MDM solutions, Reltio offers a cloud-first, API-driven architecture that supports real-time data processing and integration. Here are some standout features that make Reltio a compelling choice:

• Multi-Domain MDM: Manage customer, product, supplier, and location data in one place
• Cloud-native & scalable: Handles high-volume, high-velocity data seamlessly
• Data quality & governance: Cleansing, validation, survivorship, lineage tracking
• Graph technology: Discover and leverage entity relationships with connected graph models
• API-first & real-time: Modern integration to power digital ecosystems

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Detailed Business Use Cases with Attributes

Let’s look at some practical business use cases where Reltio is especially valuable, with examples of typical attributes managed in each:

1️⃣ Customer 360 for Financial Services

Use Case: A bank needs to create a unified customer profile to improve onboarding, risk assessment, and personalized product offerings.

Typical attributes managed:

• Name

• Address

• Social Security Number / National ID

• Date of Birth

• Contact numbers

• Email addresses

• Account numbers

• KYC documents

• Risk rating

• Credit score

• Relationships to other customers or accounts (beneficiaries, joint account holders)

Business value:

• Improved compliance (KYC/AML)

• Better fraud detection

• Personalized cross-selling opportunities

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2️⃣ Product 360 for Retail & E-commerce

Use Case: A global retailer needs a single view of its products across all sales channels, to drive consistency in pricing, promotions, and supply chain.

Typical attributes managed:

• SKU

• Product name

• Description

• Brand

• Price

• Categories

• Product images

• Inventory levels

• Supplier details

• Related products / bundles

Business value:

• Faster time-to-market for new products

• Accurate inventory planning

• Seamless omnichannel experience

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3️⃣ Healthcare Provider 360

Use Case: A healthcare network needs to manage consistent information about its providers (doctors, specialists, clinics) to streamline referrals and claims processing.

Typical attributes managed:

• Provider name

• NPI (National Provider Identifier)

• Specialty

• License details

• Affiliated hospitals

• Availability

• Contact information

• Insurance acceptance

• Certifications

Business value:

• Reduced claim rejections

• Improved care coordination

• Enhanced provider search tools for patients

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4️⃣ Supplier 360 for Manufacturing

Use Case: A manufacturer wants to manage supplier information globally to optimize procurement, quality, and compliance.

Typical attributes managed:

• Supplier name

• Tax ID

• Supplier location

• Product categories supplied

• Pricing agreements

• Contracts

• Quality certifications

• Risk assessments

• Relationship hierarchy (parent/subsidiary)

Business value:

• Reduced supplier risk

• Consolidated spend

• Better contract compliance

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Typical Industries Benefiting from Reltio

• Retail & E-commerce — better product and customer data for omnichannel
• Financial Services — single customer view for compliance and fraud
• Healthcare — provider and patient data management
• Life Sciences — compliance and product data governance
• Manufacturing — supplier and product data optimization

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Conclusion

Master Data Management is no longer a “nice-to-have” — it’s a business imperative. Reltio’s modern, flexible, and scalable approach helps enterprises build a trustworthy data foundation to thrive in the digital era.

With its rich history of innovation, strong multi-domain capabilities, and focus on real-time, API-driven architecture, Reltio is well positioned to support modern businesses as they navigate increasingly complex data challenges.

If you’re exploring a future-ready MDM solution to unify and unleash the power of your data, Reltio is absolutely worth a closer look.

Understanding NULL Handling in Informatica MDM: Allow NULL Update vs. Apply NULL Values

 NULL handling in Informatica MDM plays a crucial role in data consolidation and survivorship. Two key properties that determine how NULL values are managed are Allow NULL Update and Apply NULL Values. Let’s break them down:

1. Allow NULL Update on the Staging Table

This property controls whether a NULL value can overwrite a non-NULL value during a load job.

• Enabled: A non-NULL value in a column can be updated to NULL.

• Disabled: Prevents NULL updates, retaining existing non-NULL values.

• Behavior in Cross-Referenced (XREF) Records:

  • If a Base Object has a single XREF, a NULL can overwrite a non-NULL value.

  • For multiple XREFs, NULL updates are managed based on the Allow NULL Update setting.

  • To maintain consistency across single and multi-XREF records, a user exit can be implemented.

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2. Apply NULL Values on the Base Object

This property determines how NULL values are treated during the consolidation process.

• By Default (Disabled):

  • NULL values are automatically downgraded, ensuring non-NULL values survive.

• When Enabled:

  • NULL values are treated normally with trust scores.

  • NULLs may overwrite non-NULL values during put-operations or consolidations.

  • Higher trust scores allow NULL values to survive in the Base Object.

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3. Comparison: Allow NULL Update vs. Apply NULL Values

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4. How MDM Determines NULL Survivorship?

For each XREF column, MDM follows these steps:

1. Identify the source stage table:

   • If the XREF record has a non-null STG_ROWID_TABLE, use it.

   • If not, use ROWID_SYSTEM to find the source stage table.

2. If only one source stage table exists:

   • Use the Allow NULL Update setting of that table.

3. If multiple source stage tables exist:

   • If all have the same setting, use it.

   • If inconsistent, refer to Apply NULL Value setting in the Base Object.

4. If no stage table is found, use Apply NULL Value setting in the Base Object.

5. If Allow NULL Update is false, the trust score of NULL values is significantly downgraded, reducing the likelihood of NULLs surviving.

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5. Operations Affected by NULL Handling

All operations involving Best Version of Truth (BVT) calculation follow these rules, including:

• Load/Put/CleansePut

• Merge/Unmerge

• Recalculate BVT

• Revalidate

By understanding these settings, you can better manage data integrity and ensure accurate MDM processing!