We would like to introduce you to our new ROI calculator that we are presenting together with our good friends at Stibo Systems.

It’s designed to compare the estimated solution cost with the anticipated future benefits of investing into Master Data Management (MDM). 

MDM or Master Data Management

An enterprise organisation typically uses an MDM tool such as STEP from Stibo Systems as a centralised repository, managing, updating and storing their master data, thus avoiding the costly inefficiencies caused by silos of data.

STEP (Stibo Systems Enterprise Platform) is the most comprehensive software solution for creating, managing, and publishing accurate and consistent master data across your business.

What is ROI, and what does it show?

The term ROI or Return on Investment describes spending money with the expectation that you’ll get a return on your expense. Businesses, especially in today’s tough economic marketplace don’t want to gamble when making a purchase, so breaking the numbers down into a ROI calculation provides a more accurate and defensible decision-making process.

How do you calculate your ROI?

ROI is normally presented as a percentage over an expected period of the investment, normally viewed as:

Return on investment (in %) = Net income / Investment * 100

A high ROI means the investment’s gains compare favourably to what it cost. As a performance measure, ROI is used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to make a comparison across the efficiencies of different investment options. 

Read more: How to use Stibo STEP to unlock value in the CPG sector

Poor data is bad for business

MDM can quantifiably benefit a business by consistently making available and accessible for use information such as customer data, product details, suppliers, and creative assets.

Organisations around the globe are continually seeking ways to gain a competitive advantage by leveraging their data and the insights it provides to be able to work harder and smarter.

Not having an MDM system in place, can be the difference between missed opportunities, and regulatory non-compliance compared to future-proofing the data foundation for the organisation and reducing the risk of making bad business decisions.

Also see: Use Stibo STEP to accelerate digital transformation in manufacturing

Now you have an ROI how do you use it in your internal MDM selling process?

Most people buy for emotional reasons – a belief in the story behind the product or service and that it will provide as a minimum the benefits presented. 

Providing a convincing ROI argument as to why your company should invest in an MDM system creates a logical purchasing position. Adding this to an explanation to how using an MDM system will take away some of the pain your company is trying to address, moves your approach for internally selling from a ‘nice to have’ to a necessity.

To get the ROI value, and then be able to combine it with the key benefits in monetary terms of investing in an MDM system, the value metrics need to be calculated.

So, we have taken away the hard work needed to make these complex calculations by working with Stibo Systems to develop a unique ROI calculator. 

Use our ROI calculator - click here.

Trying to sell a solution internally by using ROI and presenting figures, means you need to keep it as simple as possible. If your audience doesn't understand it, they won’t be convinced by it. 

If they find the concept of looking through your ROI calculation too difficult, they’ll defer a decision or say no. 

Using the ROI methodology helps your stakeholders see the value you can deliver with an MDM solution. In fact, ROI based selling can reduce the sales cycle time drastically because they’ll want to start reaping the potential benefits immediately. 

Having a well thought out ROI discussion can help also to reduce the value of the emotional ties to any existing solution and provide insights into any financial gains or returns that in the long term can reduce the level of resources required or upfront investment needed to manage the current status quo.

Read more: Tips on how to internally sell Master Data Management in your organisation

Unit of Measure - based on 20+ years of MDM experience

Wherever you are on your MDM journey, we can help you. 

All our services revolve around helping organisations achieve great business benefits from Master Data Management (MDM) and Product Information Management (PIM).

Based on over 20 years of MDM and PIM experience, we have developed our own unique implementation approach that achieves the fastest time-to-value for your investment, with a low risk of project delays and with a high project success rate.

Book a free consultation with us and let’s explore how we can help you get your master data in shape and prepared for the changes that will be impacting businesses now and in the coming years.