IBM's Master Plan for Data.

This article features the WebSphere Product Center, Customer Center Version 6, and Integration Center information service solution-set from IBM. According to Dan Druker, director of enterprise master data solutions at IBM, a number of key drivers point toward the master-data approach. The first is simply cost savings through elimination of redundancy--what he calls the once and done method of updating. Next in line is compliance because it is hard for companies to meet regulatory demands if there are multiple versions of the truth running around. Accurate, up-to-date credit and collections information is another motivation, as is the new wave of merger and acquisition activity, which has resulted in huge data consolidation problems.