Mastering Master Data Services Presented By: Jeff Prom BI Data Architect Bridgepoint Education MCTS - Business Intelligence, Admin, Developer

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Agenda  What is Master Data Services?  What is Master Data Management?  Installation & Configuration  MDS Modeling Concepts  Features & Functionality  Excel Add-in  Demo  What’s New in 2016  Questions / Wrap up

10 | 43 Master Data Services Master Data Management What Is?

What is Master Data Services?  Microsoft's solution to Master Data Management  Traditionally MDM solutions have been expensive, complex, and focused on a single domain.  Domain = Group of related data in a focused area.  MDS is flexible and can be used with multiple domains. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to use. 11 | 43

What is Master Data Management?  Master Data Management (MDM)  The management of non-transactional data.  Managing relationships between data groups.  Managing hierarchies within data groups.  Empower data stewards, not IT, to ensure data quality.  Provide an accurate source of data for other systems.  Data security.  Even though Master Data manages non-transactional data, it is almost always used within transactions.  Data Stewards help manage the data.  Technically savvy  Subject matter experts 12 | 43

Why do I need MDM?  Master data brings together multiple data sources throughout the organization into one centrally managed system.  Different business units within your organization may be managing similar sets of data.  Who has the most accurate set of data?  How much time and effort goes into managing the same data?  Ever receive two pieces of mail from the same company, or a letter asking you to open an account when you already have one?  That’s a company who could use a Master Data solution! 13 | 43

Common Domains in MDM  Customer Data  Financials  Product Information  Vendor Information  Employee Data  Locations 14 | 43

Company A (Before using MDM)

Company A (After using MDM) Domain: Customer Data

Integrating MDM with a Data Warehouse

Questions? 17 | 43

18 | 43 Master Data Services Let’s Dig In…

MDS Background  June, Microsoft acquires Atlanta based Stratature  Stratature +EDM product becomes MDS.  Many Stratature employees have since moved on to a company called Profisee which is also based in Atlanta.  Version 1.0 in SQL Server 2008 R2  Available in Enterprise & Business Intelligence Editions 19 | 43

How do you use MDS? 1. MDS User Interface  Web Based  Full functionality  Data Management 2. Excel Add in (New in SQL Server 2012)  Limited MDS functionality  Very useful when working with data 20 | 43

MDS Data Flow 21 | 43 Batch Processing / Staging

Installation and Configuration 1. Install Prerequisites  PowerShell  IIS .NET Framework 2. Create a new database 3. Web Configuration  Website & Web Application  Associate to the MDS database  Enable DQS Integration (optional)  Enables Matching Functionality 22 | 43

Demo Install & Configuration 23 | 43

MDS Modeling Concepts  Models (Database)  Highest level of organization. Containers of related entities.  Entities (Table)  Base containers for data.  Attributes (Columns)  Attributes that describe members.  Members (Records)  Records that populate the entities. 24 | 43

Models (Databases)  Highest level of data organization  Models contain the following objects:  Entities  Attributes and attribute groups  Explicit and derived hierarchies  Collections 25 | 43

Entities (Tables)  Contained in MDS models  Groupings of similar data  Contains members  Typically one or more related entities per model 26 | 43

Attributes (Columns) and Attribute Groups  Attribute values describe the members of the entity.  Attribute Groups help to manage many attributes and can be assigned to roles for easy security management.  Three types of attributes:  Free-form  Domain-based  File attributes 27 | 43

Members (Records/Rows)  Members are the physical master data.  Three types of members:  Leaf (default)  Consolidated (Exist only when explicit hierarchies and collections are enabled for the entity)  Collection 28 | 43

Excel Add-in  New in SQL 2012  Office 2007 or higher  32-bit and 64-bit available  Good for working with 1million records or less  Has most functionality, except:  Business Rules  New Models  Hierarchies 29 | 43 (Unless using the 2016 Add-in)

Demo 30 | 43

Explicit (Ragged) Hierarchies  Organizes members from a single entity in any way you specify.  Are not based on domain-based attribute relationships.  No limitation on where you insert the consolidate members.  Each member can only be used once.  You need to create/enable explicit hierarchies on an entity to create a collection. 31 | 43

Derived Hierarchies  Derived from the domain-based attribute relationships.  The leaf members from one entity are used to group leaf members of another entity.  Based on relationships between entities.  Sorted by code. You cannot change the sort order.  Always contains a consistent number of levels. 32 | 43

Collections  A group of leaf and consolidated members from a single entity.  Use collections when you do not need a complete hierarchy but want groupings.  Doesn’t limit the number or types of members as long as they are within the same entity.  Doesn’t create a hierarchical structure, but a flat list of members.  A collection can also contain other collections. 33 | 43

Business Rules  If/Then statements that result in an action  Rules help ensure the quality and accuracy of your data.  Possible actions:  Default Value  Change Value  Validation   External Action 34 | 43

Staging  Good for working with over 1 million records  At least one table is created per entity  Use the staging process to:  Create, update, deactivate, and delete leaf and consolidate members.  Update attribute values.  Designate relationships in explicit hierarchies. 1. Load data into the staging tables.  stg.name_Leaf  stg.name_Consolidated  stg.name_Relationship 2. Use stored procedures, or the MDS site, to load data from staging tables into MDS.  stg.udp_name_Leaf  stg.udp_name_Consolidated  stg.udp_name_Relationship MDS 35 | 43

Publishing Data  Create subscription Views in MDS  Subscribing Systems Can:  Use data directly from MDS  Pull and Process data from MDS to it’s own system.  Truncate local and copy from MDS  Use merge statements to update the source data  Use triggers to update the source data 36 | 43

Versions & Flags  Versions allow you to create copies of the master data within a model.  Can be locked while you validate your data, and then committed after the data has been validated.  Use versions to:  Create an auditable record of your data as it changes over time.  Prevent changes while you ensure data validates against business rules.  Lock down a model for use by subscribing systems.  Test different hierarchies without implementing them right away.  Use flags to mark and identify versions, such as ‘Latest’. 37 | 43

Security  Use to secure & restrict data  Based on local or Active Directory users and groups.  Grant MDS administrators  Able to specify security down to individual attributes. 38 | 43

Demo

What’s New in 2016?  Improved Performance  Improved Security  Transaction Log Maintenance  Improved Troubleshooting  Improved Manageability  Custom Indexes  Entity Sync Relationship  Member Revision History  Manage Business Rules (MDS Add-in for Excel)  Many-to-Many Relationships in Derived Hierarchies  Merge Conflicts

What’s New in 2016?  Business Rules Extension  Attribute Filters  Change Sets  Purge Soft Deleted Members  Change Set and Management  Edit Many-to-Many Relationships in Derived Hierarchies  View and Manage Revision History  Save or Open Query Files in MDS Add-in for Excel  Business Rule Management Experience Redesigned  Business Rule Management Functionality Removed from the MDS Add-in for Excel  Derived Hierarchy Management Experience Improved

What’s New in 2016?

Links  Microsoft MDS Overview   Microsoft Installation Guide   Microsoft MDS Blog   Microsoft MDS Forums   Microsoft Instructional Videos 

MDS Books  Free eBook with a chapter on MDS! 

Jeff Prom Blog: LinkedIn: Thank You!