Understanding Your Core System’s Authority

This pursuit of the Single Source of Truth often contradicts the fundamental reality of how businesses operate. Your core business system (or systems) – the ones that run your daily operations, process business transactions, and keep your business moving – need more than just standardized data.

They need efficient, practical tools for managing their own reference data while maintaining their authority as the source of truth for operations. After all, your core systems are your transactional sources of truth and operational tools.

The Nature of Operational Systems

Core business systems serve as the backbone of daily operations. These systems support your critical business functions, whether you’re running manufacturing operations, managing a trucking fleet, running a finance institution, or processing insurance policies – for insurance brokers such systems are called Agency Management Systems (AMS360, Applied Epic etc.), and for insurance companies they are called Core Policy Systems (Guidewire, Duck Creek).

Core systems handle transactional data and maintain complex relationships between different types of reference data. Think about anything from customer records to product catalogs, from procurement orders to inventory items, from employee data to business unit hierarchies, or listings of insurance companies and agencies, and so on.

Core systems are not just passive storage for records. They are living systems actively used by a host of different roles within your organization. It could be customer service representatives, account managers, sales people. Large organizations may pay for hundreds or thousands of seats. Many active users engage actively with the system on a daily basis.

Why Core Systems Must Remain Authoritative

The authority of these operational systems isn’t just a matter of preference – it’s a practical necessity. Your business processes depend on these systems containing maintained, accurate, up-to-date reference data. When a transaction needs to be processed, when an order needs to be fulfilled, or when a service needs to be delivered, core business systems must have the final say on what’s true and what isn’t.

Reference data in core systems isn’t just a list of standardized values – it’s the foundation that enables business operations. Every transaction, every process, every workflow depends on this data being accurate and properly maintained within the operational system itself. This is where traditional Single Source of Truth / MDM approaches often fall short.

The Single Source of Truth Trap

The biggest misconception about Single Source of Truth is that one system can effectively govern all enterprise data. This ignores the reality that different business processes have different data needs, update cycles, business rules, and context of operational requirements.

What is true is a matter of perspective for each of your business systems.

The idea that perfect data standardization can be achieved across all systems often leads organizations down a path of increasing complexity with diminishing returns. It is also the fastest way for any CIO to lose a job within two years.

Real-World Consequences

When organizations attempt to impose a Single Source of Truth above their operational systems, they often encounter:

  • Operational disruption as systems struggle to sync with the ‘master’ data
  • System conflicts when business rules don’t align
  • Multiplying implementation complexities
  • Growing maintenance overhead as (more) reconciliation is still needed

The Hidden Costs of Single Source of Truth

Beyond the visible challenges, there are hidden costs to the Single Source of Truth approach:

  • Loss of system autonomy that impacts operational efficiency
  • Increased complexity and talent requirements in data management
  • Additional friction in daily operations
  • Higher risks during system changes

Decor - abstract cubes connected point-to-point representing data management and core systems

Core Systems in The Multi-System Reality

The existence of multiple systems within organizations isn’t a flaw – it’s a natural result of business evolution and growth. Companies expand through acquisitions, develop specialized operational needs, and adapt to changing market requirements. Each system serves a specific purpose, optimized for particular business functions and processes.

Why Organizations Have Multiple Core Systems

Many organizations operate multiple instances of the same system type across different divisions or geographies. This isn’t redundancy; it’s a reflection of how businesses operate. A manufacturing plant in Asia might need different configurations than one in Europe, even if they’re running the same type of the core system.

Managing System Boundaries

Managing boundaries between systems presents unique challenges that SSOT approaches may oversimplify. Each system maintains its own data model, optimized for its specific operational needs. Business rules vary between systems, reflecting different regulatory requirements, market conditions, and operational practices.

When organizations attempt to standardize across these boundaries, they often discover that what appears redundant actually serves essential business purposes. The same customer might need different attributes in the CRM system versus the billing system, or the same product might require different classifications in sales versus manufacturing systems.

Oftentimes, the granularity of reference data is different between different core system installations.

The Reference Data Challenge

Reference data presents particular challenges in a multi-system environment. Each system has specific requirements for how reference data must be structured and maintained. What works in one system might not translate directly to another, creating complex synchronization and translation challenges.

Consider how different systems might represent organizational hierarchies or product classifications. What appears as unnecessary variation often reflects genuine business needs (or sometimes various degrees of legacy architecture and technical debt) – needs that can’t be eliminated through standardization alone.

A New Approach for Core Systems: Wingman MDM

Rather than attempting to replace or override existing systems, a new approach is emerging – one that works alongside operational systems as a trusted companion. Like a wingman, complementing and helping rather than taking the lead. Wingman approach enhances master data management capabilities while respecting system authority.

The reasoning behind this approach is that core systems often lack usability when it comes to reference data management.

Data administrators are doomed to manual work, one-by-one operations on records, and convoluted UI choices that turn their work into click-by-click chore. Their most basic tasks typically involve switching menus, tabs, and windows in search of individual flags and settings. As soon as we address this problem, data administration becomes easier and way more efficient.

The Companion Philosophy of Wingman MDM

Our wingman approach acknowledges that operational systems must maintain their authority over the data they use to support operations. Instead of imposing a new overarching master system, you may want to improve what you already have with the resources you have. You just need a helpful, non-disruptive ally.

The reality for many companies is that there are already people responsible for managing reference data, creating records, or mapping data between systems post-M&A. To name a few: data administrators, system administrators, business system analysts, implementation specialists, integration specialists, and data conversion specialists.

They show a lot of expertise in their field and deal with tremendous stress. If you happen to work in P&C insurance, listen to this episode of The Insurtech Leadership Podcast. Our founder, Roman, gives data admins a spotlight and highlights their challenges.

The real problem is the lack of proper tools and subpar usability of the core system’s data management. This is why we decided to make RecordLinker all about enhancement rather than replacement and superseding.

Decor - orange manufacturing robots over an assembly line

Key Principles of Wingman MDM

Your Wingman MDM is meant to work as a data management hub, an overlay for the existing system able to bi-directionally synchronize (via API) with read-and-write operations on your core system’s data.

RecordLinker acts as a space for data administration. Our approach provides tools and capabilities that make existing systems more effective by equipping your data administrators with a platform, where they can view a full list of all the entities as well as create and configure them in a convenient way.

What we get by this is that the core system remains the absolute source of truth for its domain. Rather than creating a new, competing source of truth – along with separate tools and processes – why not enhance the core system’s ability to maintain accurate reference data to make it convenient for your data admins?

What Is Required To Enhance Core System Data Administration

The prerequisite for that is API integration, enabling read-and-write operations through bi-directional synchronization. The goal is to at least cover the list of the most crucial entities with their settings.

What do we get by this? By creating a companion platform for entity management, we only reorganize how data admins work with reference data. All those people need is greater usability, which means being able to set and edit records in a single view without going through multiple screens for every single record.

Bi-directional synchronization ensures that changes can be managed efficiently while respecting system authority. Our enhanced administrative tools provide the capabilities needed to manage reference data effectively, while conflict resolution always favors the core system. On top of that, RecordLinker creates an environment where data admins work in a draft mode, and only when everything is set, they approve changes, and sync into your core system.

If you would like to explore what RecordLinker can do for your data administration, feel free to contact us.

Our approach to RecordLinker’s clients relies on agility and partnership rather than delivering cookie-cutter tech. We are open to integrating with new systems. At the same time, it requires preliminary work with getting to understand your core system’s data model and capabilities for integration with your solution vendor. No data solution can do it effectively off-the-shelf, because specific core systems differ a lot.

Benefits of Flexible Approach to Data Administration

This approach delivers immediate practical benefits while avoiding the pitfalls of traditional SSOT / classic MDM initiatives:

  • Respect of your existing core systems’ authority
  • Low risk of implementation thanks to lower complexity
  • Mitigated risk of operational disruptions
  • Faster implementation and reduced maintenance overhead
  • Quick end-user onboarding thanks to the focus on usability for data admins
  • Improved efficiency in data management operations
  • Draft edits and an approval workflow before anything goes live

Supporting Your Core System’s Data Administration

Effective support for core systems requires practical administrative tools. Rather than attempting to replace existing functionality, these tools enhance administrators’ ability to manage reference data efficiently. This enhancement needs to go hand-in-hand with non-disruptive system integration between your core system and the data management platform.

Enhanced Administration in Practice

Consider the common task of updating hundreds of employee records or modifying multiple product classifications. Without proper tools, these operations become tedious, error-prone exercises in clicking through countless screens. RecordLinker provides bulk operation capabilities, streamlined workflows, and robust quality controls that make these tasks manageable while maintaining data integrity.

Change management becomes particularly critical in this context. Changes to reference data often have far-reaching implications across business processes. Proper tools must provide visibility into these relationships and help administrators manage changes carefully and efficiently. RecordLinker can also support the audit trail.

System Integration Considerations

Enhanced capabilities are essential, they must be implemented in ways that respect system boundaries, maintain operational integrity, and enable project separation. This means understanding and working within the constraints of existing systems while providing new capabilities that make them more effective.

The goal isn’t to bypass or override core system processes but to support them. Integration should enhance existing workflows, respect core system’s business rules, and maintain the integrity of core business processes.

At the same time, by being just a companion platform rather than an overarching master data structure, we achieve low implementation complexity and enable easy onboarding.

Reality of How Core Systems Work Wrapped Up

Success in managing reference data requires embracing a new Wingman paradigm – one that emphasizes:

  • Support over replacement of existing systems
  • Enhancement of administration over centralized control of data
  • Partnership over dominance in cross-system relationships

This approach acknowledges that the goal isn’t to create a perfect, unified data model but to make existing systems work better.

Organizations that embrace this reality-based approach find themselves better positioned to manage their reference data effectively while maintaining the operational efficiency their business demands. The future lies not in pursuing an unattainable perfect unity of data, but in providing practical tools that help businesses manage their reference data where it matters most – in the operational systems that run their business.

Suggested Reading about Data Management

Take a look at our recommended reading list for practical insights and easy-to-understand resources to help you establish good data practices in your organization. Proper data management is not simple – learn foundational concepts to discover helpful solutions to your data challenges.

Problems with Data Management and Migrations?

Are you acquiring businesses, migrating operations, or consolidating your business systems?

RecordLinker is not just a data management platform! We are primarily known for helping some of the top 100 P&C brokers with their data conversion (mapping reference data from one acquired system to the destination system). Recordlinker uses Machine Learning to make data conversion painless. We easily handle conversion projects for systems like AMS360, Applied Epic, Sagitta, BenefitPoint, and more. Let’s discuss your data needs – contact us!

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