Maintaining regulatory reference information. "systems theory and systems analysis". ACS NSI: development

Industry: Energy and housing and communal services

Since Rosatom unites many enterprises and organizations, the creation of industry-wide directories is a necessary condition for centralizing and ensuring transparency of procurement activities and relations with suppliers, as well as for the organization collaboration IT systems of industry enterprises. That is why the project to create a unified industry system of regulatory and reference information(US NSI) was included in the “Program for the transformation of the financial and economic block and information technologies» State corporations. The EOS NSI system will cover organizations in the engineering and construction blocks nuclear power plants", "operation of nuclear power plants", "life cycle nuclear fuel" Based on the results of an open competition, IBS was involved in the implementation of the project, and a specialized SAP solution was chosen as the platform.

To date, a pilot project to create an Unified System of Scientific Information has been completed. Within its framework, a number of reference books have been created: “Counterparties” (debtors/creditors, legal entities, residents/non-residents), “Material and technical resources” (MTR), “Elements industrial facilities", "Unified Chart of Accounts", a set of all-Russian directories and classifiers. The most popular reference books have become “Counterparties” (currently contains about 70 thousand entries), “MTR” (about 150 thousand entries) and “Unified Chart of Accounts”. Already during the pilot project, 215 enterprises were connected to the EOS NSI using the “Counterparties” directory, and 35 enterprises using the “MTR” directory. In total, more than 4 thousand users work in the system, their access is provided using the portal service.

Work is currently underway to replicate the system. It is expected that by 2012 the total number of EOS NSI users will reach about 10 thousand people. Thus, this project in the field of organizing regulatory and reference information on the SAP platform will become one of the largest in the world and the largest in Europe. The results of the project and the capabilities of the EOS NSI will be used in a number of other IT projects of the Rosatom State Corporation. Among them are the creation of a unified industry procurement system, a unified industry system for integrating corporate applications, a unified industry document flow system, a property asset management system, the introduction of a unified settlement center system, etc.

« Centralization of processes for maintaining normative and reference information and the use of relevant information system, firstly, will increase the quality and reliability of the information provided by IT systems. Secondly, it will reduce costs and time for generating consolidated reporting. Thirdly, it minimizes risks due to incomplete or incorrect payment data. This will also make it possible to optimize and ensure transparency of procurement processes and work with suppliers, reduce planning time for procurement and supply of materials and equipment, optimize the process of maintaining master data by organizing a unified management environment", noted Head of the NSI program at Greenatom CJSC Kirill Sukovykh.

“The historical legacy of automation in large companies and holdings is in the vast majority of cases deplorable: individual systems and “systems” operate on different software platforms and use different local directories that are in no way connected with each other, which impedes information exchange and data consolidation. Many experts tend to use such metaphors as “patchwork automation” and “information zoo” in this situation. The key solution to the problem is the creation of a Unified System for Maintaining Regulatory and Reference Information, standardizing and unifying all information flows within the company.” (From the article by the President of NCIT “INTERTECH” D. E. Gulko “System of normative and reference information: typical errors and misconceptions”, published in the journal “ Gas industry"No. 6 in June 2004)

Experts from NCIT "INTERTECH" based on the results of the analysis of information systems used in large companies and government agencies Ah, we came to the following conclusions:

• most used application systems built on different software and hardware platforms;
• application systems are not integrated with each other; they use non-standardized reference books that differ in structure and composition;
• there is no centralized system to support user access to regulatory and reference information;
• existing directories do not describe accounting objects fully enough, their names are not unified, and the coding system is not standardized;
• When structuring large information arrays, classifiers are not used to facilitate the search for the required information.

Let us highlight some of the main problems of maintaining master data, which significantly increase the material and labor costs of many companies and government agencies to carry out important business processes:

• consolidation of applications for centralized procurement and preparation of consolidated applications;
• formation and execution of the budget in terms of logistics;
• placing and monitoring the execution of orders, monitoring warehouse balances;
• accounting and control of the movement of material flows throughout the supply chain;
• formation and prompt provision of statistical and analytical information necessary for the adoption of effective management decisions.

As a solution to these problems, INTERTECH proposes the creation of a Unified system for maintaining master data, linking all regulatory and reference information of the company's divisions, subsidiaries and partners into the general corporate information space.

To implement this solution you need:

Develop and adopt standards and regulations for maintaining reference data:

• Company standard “Composition and structure of the Unified System for Maintaining Master Data, Classification and Coding Systems”.
• Regulations for the use by divisions and subsidiaries of the Unified System for Maintaining Master Data, classification and coding systems.
• Regulations for maintaining and maintaining the Unified System for maintaining reference data, classification and coding systems.
• Regulations for ensuring access of company users to the resources of the Unified System for Maintaining Master Data and their technical support.

Use the ontological classification and coding methodology developed by INTERTECH specialists.

The methodology makes it possible to standardize the actions of expert specialists when they carry out operations to classify and encode groups (classes) of accounting objects, determine the properties (features) of classes and their values, and build navigation hierarchies.

The methodology includes a description of typical user requests, divided into groups according to the degree of uncertainty and inaccuracy of wording, and recommendations for the actions of support service specialists (experts).

Implement an automated system that provides:

• support for the accepted technology of classification and coding of information;
• user access to the resources of the Unified System for Maintaining and Managing Reference Data – direct, through a web interface or through existing application systems;
• work of support services for the Unified System for Maintaining and Managing Reference Data, classification and coding systems in accordance with the developed regulations.

4. Stages of work

Below are the main stages of work to create a Unified System for maintaining and managing reference data.

5. The essence of the approach

The proposed approach is based on the principles of evolution, adaptability, continuity, standardization and unification, accounting human factor.

Evolvability development of the system involves a step-by-step transition to modern principles of maintaining and maintaining corporate reference data. General scheme This approach looks like this: old -> old + new -> new, when at intermediate stages the parallel existence of the old and new systems is allowed.

Adaptability systems to the specifics and landscapes of existing application systems (including ERP-class systems), to the various classification and coding systems used, presupposes the ability of the system to integrate with external systems.

Continuity allows you to preserve all the best and valuable things that have been developed over years and decades. This concerns using the potential of reference data specialists, not disrupting the functioning of existing application systems, and the possibilities of migration and transformation of accumulated information arrays.

Standardization and unification regulations and methods for using and maintaining corporate master data, classification and coding systems, which allows us to ensure the constant relevance and availability of master data throughout the company.

Taking into account the human factor implies the ability to work in the system various categories users with different skills and “degree of advancement” in the field of information technology, ergonomic design and “friendliness” of system interfaces.

6. Software

Ontologic 4.6 is widely used by many major Russian companies as a platform for MDM solutions. On this platform, master data management systems (MDM) have been developed and implemented in companies such as TNK-BP, Tatneft, SIBUR, INTEGRA, Norilsk Nickel, Transmashholding, Transneft, GOZNAK, Polyus-Zoloto, NOVATEK, etc.

Taking into account the experience of such implementations, the INTERTECH company supplies ready standard solution for reference control system .

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS

6.1. Solution architecture

Composition of the solution components:

• applications server;
• database server;
• integration module;
• client applications (AWS).

Used for application server software:

• IIS 7.5 or higher;
• .NET Framework 4.5

Software used for the database server:

• Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard;
• Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Standard or Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Standard;
• .NET Framework 4.5.

Software used on workstations of users, experts, and administrators:

• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7/8/10, 32 or 64-bit;
• .NET Framework 4.5;
• Microsoft Excel 2007/2010/2013/2016;
• Internet Explorer 11.

6.2. System functionality

Data search functions:

• search by directory entry attributes (name, etc.);
• search in text fields using word forms;
• taxonomic search by properties/characteristics;
• search through classifier hierarchies/navigator categories.

Functions for exporting and printing information about directory entries:

• export data to external files in .xls, .txt, .mdb, .xml formats;
• Printing of found directory items.

User functions for updating the directory:

• generating/editing a request to add/change a directory item;
• sending a request to add/change a position to the Reference Data Service;
• monitoring the status of request processing.

Functions of an expert in maintaining reference data:

• processing a request to add/change a position;
• maintaining a class library (creating/adjusting hierarchies);
• creating/changing positions in the directory;
• adding documents to a directory position;
• generating reports related to processing user requests and updating directories;

System administration functions:

• settings of classifiers and reference books and connections between created tables;
• editing the directory structure (adding/removing/changing the format of fields in a directory entry);
• data export-import;
• adding and editing functional user roles;
• user registration, assignment of functional roles and user activation;
• archiving data and restoring data from the archive;
• audit of user actions;
• setting up and monitoring the operation of system modules and components (including integration with application systems).

6.3. Information content

The solution comes with a pre-configured structure of directories and classifiers and loaded demo content. Includes:

MATERIALS (MTP):

• Classifier with hierarchies and taxonomic sets of properties;
• A directory with the following attributes: name of material, brand, specifications, links to the standard, to the Ontologic class, to a group of materials, etc.;
• Auxiliary reference books (materials and equipment groups, units of measurement, etc.).

CONTRACTORS:

• Directory of counterparties with the following attributes: names of the counterparty, INN, KPP, addresses, contact information, etc.;
• Directory of banks.
• Directory of settlement accounts of counterparties.
• Auxiliary directories (organizational and legal forms, addresses, etc.).

CUSTOM DIRECTORIES AND CLASSIFIERS:

Using developed flexible configuration and administration tools, the Ontologic 4.6 platform allows you to create custom directories and classifiers of a given structure, including directories and classifiers of documents, accounting objects, etc. Flexible customization of existing directory and classifier structures is also possible.

6.4. Integration options

Solution integration tools on the ONTOLOGIC 4.6 platform allow you to configure various scenarios for replication of data updates from the EU reference data to customer application systems using integration buses (SAP PI/XI, IBM WebSphere, etc.) or file exchange.

• A centralized repository of regulatory and reference information, operating within the Company’s unified information space, and including the entire range of material and technical resources and other accounting objects at the Company’s disposal.
• Centralization of functions for maintaining regulatory and reference information based on developed corporate classification and coding standards.
• Unified regulations and technological environment for user access to reference data, maintenance and management of reference data by experts (classifier and directory) and technical support of the system by administrators.
• Software built into the system that maintains the required level of data security and its constant updating, eliminating the storage of duplicate, erroneous or outdated information.
• Integration of classifiers and directories of reference data into existing management, accounting and other systems, allowing to streamline and reduce costs for the processes of maintaining normative and reference information.
• Promptly providing company management with the information necessary to make effective management decisions.

INTERTECH is the developer and owner of a unique methodology and technology for constructing classifiers corporate level, OK software and complete databases, which allows comprehensively on a turnkey basis to solve all the problems described above.

INTERTECH is specialized company , the only one in Russia dealing with the problem of classification and unification of descriptions of industrial products, goods, works and services, at a high scientific and technical level, using modern effective technologies and methods of ontological classification. INTERTECH has state accreditation as a scientific organization.

INTERTECH has real implementations their decisions on the construction of Unified systems for maintaining reference data, classification and coding (ontological classifier).

INTERTECH leads full cycle design work – from consulting, including examination and analysis of existing information systems, flows and processes, development of recommendations for reengineering, development of a regulatory and methodological framework, to the development and implementation of turnkey systems.

INTERTECH has introduced into its production process and uses quality management system in full compliance with the requirements of GOST R ISO 9001-2001.

INTERTECH actively interacts and coordinates work in the field of classification with the State Standard of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Industry and Science of the Russian Federation, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

INTERTECH has it all required licenses(FAPSI and the State Technical Commission under the President of the Russian Federation) for the right to work with information security systems on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The systems and solutions developed by INTERTECH have been examined and have positive reviews from a number of ministries and departments, including the State Standard of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Industry and Science of the Russian Federation, High school Economics, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, RSPP, Russian Academy civil service(RAGS) under the President of the Russian Federation, etc.

Creation of a unified system management of normative and reference information(NSI) will help you decide the whole complex problems caused by the multiplicity of reference data entry points, the lack of uniform standards for maintaining reference data and insufficient personnel qualifications.

Implementation result centralized system master data management - bringing corporate directory records to a standard, easily identifiable form, eliminating irrelevant and duplicate information, organizing a single point of entry, processing and control of directory content. All this provides opportunities to improve the quality of credential consolidation, simplifying preparation tasks financial statements and reporting according to IFRS, optimization of inventories, improving the quality of management decisions.

Centralized management of regulatory and reference information with DATAREON

DATAREON specialists have significant experience in systematization regulatory and reference information, development of uniform regulations for the use and maintenance of master data, implementation of specialized automated master data management systems based on the MDM system “1C: Enterprise 8. MDM Master Data Management”. As part of the completed projects, DATAREON specialists carried out expert processing of records of inventory directories, services, counterparties, financial block directories, organizational structure and personnel management.

Successful experience in the field of master data management, effective methods tested in practice and its own expertise allow DATAREON to optimize the use of resources of client enterprises as a result of automation of master data management.

To clarify how automation of regulatory and reference information management can be useful and economically feasible for your enterprise, please contact us.

What is regulatory reference information (RNI)?

Regulatory and reference information- a conditionally permanent component of general corporate information. It is used to regulate the company’s activities, providing “linking” of data accompanying the company’s business processes. In other words, NSI- this is the core of the organization’s unified information space, which includes a set of reference books, dictionaries, classifiers, standards, regulations used in the activities of the enterprise.

Prerequisites for organizing centralized management of regulatory and reference information

Creation of a unified information space is a necessary condition effective management modern large and medium-sized enterprises. The formation of a unified environment presupposes integration management processes, accompanied by the normalization of information flows. Often the movement of information in different intra-corporate technological areas is supported by various information and accounting systems. Accordingly, there is a need to integrate these systems.

The task of integrating information and accounting systems consists of two interrelated parts: data integration and subsequent application integration. When performing data integration, the enterprise should unify and standardize regulatory and reference information.

Why is centralized management of reference data necessary?

• Rational operation of the corporate information system as a whole
• Increasing the reliability and completeness of primary accounting and consolidated reporting information
• Ensuring compatibility of accounting and reporting documents
• Centralization of responsibility for the quality of regulatory and reference information
• Use of high-quality (up-to-date, complete, consistent, reliable, unified) regulatory and reference information by all users of the enterprise’s information and accounting systems
• Increased efficiency of management decisions and operational control of key production and economic indicators as a result of the consolidation of standardized NSI data

When it comes to the scale and complexity of certain information systems, such characteristics as the number of jobs and flows of processed documents, and the total volume of databases are usually given. However, recently, the number and size of directories are increasingly mentioned as an integral characteristic. This is not very clear to ignorant people, but to specialists such information speaks volumes. After all, it is reference data (range of goods and products, details of partners, suppliers and clients, description of the organization’s structure, etc.) that are essentially the information core of the enterprise management system, including accounting tasks, resource planning, CAD, etc.; they ensure consistency and consolidation of data, eliminate redundancy of information and optimize the search for the necessary information. In addition, directories combine all other documents of the system - invoices, contracts, orders, etc. - throughout its entire life cycle.

Currently one of the most important issues development of corporate-level information technologies - data integration. Quite often, it is understood as the ability to work with various data formats from different physical sources (including converting them from one format to another). But such a view is at least superficial. In fact, coordination and correct understanding of information is impossible without its meaningful comprehension using unified reference books.

Rice. 1. Organization of work of the centralized reference data service

This problem is relevant all over the world, but its significance is especially great for Russia, and two points can be highlighted here:

Automation of domestic companies, as a rule, developed from the bottom up, through the gradual computerization of individual areas and divisions. In addition to using various software and hardware platforms, they also used local directories, combining which is not an easy task;

On modern stage formation of a market economy in our country there are active processes of mergers, acquisitions, formation of holding structures, etc. In this case, complex problems of unification arise information resources, but often already at the level of complete enterprise management systems.

We have highlighted these two points to highlight the fundamental differences in the situations behind them. In the first case, in general, we can simply talk about errors when creating the system - it was necessary to initially create a single help system enterprises, implementing a top-down design methodology. When merging different enterprises, the situation is much more complicated, because we are talking about independent companies.

Rice. 2. Using Ontologic 5.0 technology, you can create a unified master data management system

But such internal problems of organizations are just the tip of the iceberg! In the era of economic globalization and e-business, enterprise information systems must communicate with the information systems of partners, suppliers, and clients. And they must speak in a language that each other understands. Then we could move on to issues of public administration...

To illustrate the importance of background information, we will give only two examples.

1. As you know, about a year ago the Anglo-Russian company TNK-BP was created, which was formed as a result of a series of preliminary mergers of large industrial companies (ONAKO, SIDANKO, TNK). One of the first tasks set by the management of the new company was the organization of a unified corporate directory-classifier of material and technical resources. This had to be done even before identifying other areas for the development of integration solutions and management systems. Moreover, it is the joint normative base was supposed to help form a unified corporate English-Russian mentality (the company employs specialists from Russian TNK and English BP) and a common understanding of doing business.

2. At the end of the Second World War, US President Roosevelt set the task of understanding the causes of problems with the supply of spare parts to the front. Having carried out the necessary research, the Americans came to the conclusion that spare parts were sent to the troops in quantities several times greater than the need for them. At the same time, there was still a shortage of spare parts due to the fact that the same products accumulated in warehouses, but labeled differently and bearing different names. As a result, the president issued a directive to create a unified federal system for cataloging supplies for government needs, and primarily for defense and security needs. Over the past twenty years, the United States has annually invested from 2 to 4 billion dollars in standardization programs alone using modular structures (product analogues) to reduce the range of Department of Defense supplies by approximately three times.

Management of normative and reference information

To indicate such reference information in automated systems In business management in the West, the term Master Data is used (master data, master data), and the tasks of managing it are called Master Data Management (MDM). However, in the Russian language the concept of normative reference information (RNI) is now more often used, which appeared in disciplines related to management national economy back in pre-computer times. In this case, the definition of “normative” reflects the fact that the problem of creating corporate-level directories goes far beyond the boundaries of the enterprise itself; it must be solved taking into account industry, state and international standards.

We can give the following definition: master data is a conditionally permanent part of all corporate (institutional) information, in contrast to current information generated directly in the process of the organization’s activities. Master data includes dictionaries, reference books and classifiers, data from which (for example, terms, units of measurement, codes, names of materials, contractors, etc.) are used in the generation of current documents. Thus, when generating an invoice on a computer, the names of materials, units of measurement, the name of the recipient enterprise (counterparty), its details and a number of other fields, as a rule, are selected from directories built into the system, rather than entered manually.

To assess the scale of MDM tasks, the following data can be provided. For large companies in the oil and gas sector, the size of material directories ranges from 100 to 250 thousand items, and for counterparties - from 3 to 12 thousand entries.

It is quite obvious that the issues of creating and maintaining reference data up to date are classified as independent tasks in the enterprise management system as a whole; this is often dealt with by a separate service of the company.

According to experts, in our country the cost of processing one master data record is 2-5 dollars (abroad - 10-20 dollars). Accordingly, the cost of one project for the formation of master data for a large enterprise can be estimated at 400-1000 thousand dollars (including the cost of software, implementation consulting and support).

The first to understand the need to carry out work on reference data as an independent part of creating an organization’s management system were oil and gas industry, as well as a number of state and regional structures. Currently, approximately 10-15 large projects on this topic are being implemented in Russia, while analysts note a rapid increase in interest in this work from both the corporate and public sectors. To meet the growing needs of clients, a proven methodology for implementing such projects is needed.

Creation problem corporate system NSI lies precisely in the fact that it does not have a simple solution. It would seem that the most reasonable way is to use a ready-made set of directories (international, state, industry). But the fact is that it will be extremely inconvenient for a specific enterprise to use them (they are too redundant and do not take into account the specifics of the organization), and besides, it is simply impossible to create such a global master data system in full (for more information on this topic, see Dmitry Gulko’s article “How to avoid typical mistakes when building corporate and industry systems of regulatory and reference information", PC Week/RE, N 18/2004, p. 35).

Solving the problem is possible only in the form of creating a specialized system for maintaining master data using appropriate standards, methods and software. In fact, this work should combine the efforts of three parties:

Creators of regulations and standards (both state and industry);

Basic software suppliers;

System integrators and consultants who can implement all this taking into account industry practice, national specifics, etc.

In Soviet times, government agencies were very actively involved in issues regulatory regulation. With the beginning of perestroika, there was a failure in this activity, and only 5-7 years ago government structures again took up this work. Several laws and regulations on this topic have already been adopted, and currently there are several state standard classification systems for products and activities (OKP, OKVED, OKDP, TN VED, ECPS). However, each of them has its own specialized purpose and is not suitable for use in its pure form in industry or corporate systems. Western classification systems cannot be applied in our country due to the significant national specifics of our economy. In general, it should be noted that in order to streamline the situation in the field of corporate master data, more active participation is desirable government agencies, but at the same time not crossing the line of reasonable regulation.

Fig.3. Functional diagram reference data management systems

Master Data Management issues are also in the field of attention of basic software suppliers. At the same time, they approach their solution from different directions. First of all, naturally, these tasks are dealt with by manufacturers of ERP solutions, and the leader here is SAP. Another example is infrastructure integration software developers. Here we should mention IBM Corporation - its recent acquisition of Ascential Software is largely explained by the corporation's intention to strengthen the MDM direction (see PC Week/RE, N 10/2005, p. 12). Finally, something needs to be said about document management system providers (eg Hummingbird). Their presence in the MDM segment is explained, on the one hand, by their experience in solving data integration problems, and on the other, by the need to use intelligent technologies for processing unstructured information to manage reference data.

Regarding system integrators and consulting companies, then MDM issues are dealt with to one degree or another by all companies that carry out large projects to create enterprise management systems. Some of them (Intertech, LANIT, IBS, Unit Space, Katalit) have specialized developments in this area. Next, we will briefly talk about proposals for building corporate reference data systems from the Intertech company, which last years has acquired solid experience in implementing such solutions in companies such as TNK-BP, Tatneft, SIBUR, as well as in various federal departments, departments of the Moscow government, etc. She recently entered into a cooperation agreement in the field of MDM with SAP Corporation (see PC Week/RE, N 13/2005, p. 49).

Technology for constructing master data from the company "Intertech"

The methodology proposed by Intertech implies the creation of a unified system for maintaining reference data, linking all regulatory and reference information of the company's divisions, subsidiaries and partners into the general corporate information space (Fig. 1).

Its implementation requires, first of all, the development and adoption of a set of standards and regulations for maintaining an enterprise’s master data. As a technological basis for constructing reference data systems, an ontological model of classification and coding is used - a formal description of accounting objects, based on the identification of their essential properties (Fig. 2). This approach ensures the accumulation of any amount of consistent information and combines the advantages of hierarchical, facet, adaptive and reference classification systems. In general, this technique makes it possible to standardize the actions of expert specialists when they carry out operations to classify and encode groups (classes) of accounting objects, determine the properties (features) of classes and their values, and build navigation hierarchies. It also includes a description of typical user requests, divided into groups according to the degree of uncertainty and imprecision of wording, and recommendations for support service specialists (experts).

Rice. 4. Main stages of work to create a unified system for maintaining reference data

The actual system for maintaining reference data is implemented in the form of a software and hardware complex (Fig. 3), which includes tools for maintaining directories and classifiers, tools for searching for accounting objects, modules for exchanging information between experts and users, and mechanisms for integration with external applications. Its main functional software subsystems integrated with each other are “user workstation”, “expert workstation” and “administrator workstation”. The system in its standard configuration is based on Microsoft technologies (OS - Windows, Web server - IIS, DBMS - SQL Server), but it also provides the ability to use other software platforms.

The Intertech company has also developed a step-by-step methodology for implementing an enterprise master data system (Fig. 4). The underlying approach is based on a number of basic principles.

The evolutionary development of the system involves a step-by-step transition to modern methods maintaining and supporting corporate reference data. The general scheme of this approach is as follows: old -> old + new -> new; at intermediate stages, the parallel existence of the old and new systems is allowed.

The adaptability of the master data system to the specifics and landscapes of existing application systems (including ERP-class systems) and to various classification and coding systems presupposes its ability to integrate with external systems.

Continuity allows us to preserve all the best and valuable things that have been developed over years and decades. This concerns the use of the potential of reference data specialists, the stable functioning of existing application systems, the possibilities of migration and transformation of accumulated information arrays.

Standardization and unification of regulations and methods for using and maintaining corporate master data, classification and coding systems make it possible to ensure the constant relevance and availability of master data throughout the company.

Taking into account the human factor implies the ability to work in the system for different categories of users, with different skills and degrees of “advancement” in the field of information technology, ergonomic design and “friendliness” of system interfaces.

Rice. 5. Functional model of the process of using and maintaining a unified reference data base

For the effective functioning of a unified system for maintaining reference data, a set of organizational and management solutions must be developed, providing for a clear division of responsibilities and functional responsibilities in accordance with the competencies of the company’s personnel groups (Fig. 5):

Users - company employees who use certain data from the master data base when generating working documents;

Experts - specialists of the reference data group, responsible for generating and changing data in the reference data database;

Profile specialists who are well versed in certain aspects of one or another regulatory and reference information that is within their competence in the main professional activity. They participate in the procedure for agreeing on added or changed data upon the recommendation of a specialist expert from the reference data group;

Technical support specialists are automation and IT service personnel who provide maintenance of system software and hardware.

In general, the implementation of a unified system for maintaining master data allows the customer to solve the following main tasks that help improve the efficiency of the entire enterprise:

Create a centralized master data repository that operates within the company’s unified information space and includes the entire range of material and technical resources and other accounting objects;

Centralize the functions of maintaining reference data based on developed corporate classification and coding standards;

Create unified regulations and technological environment for user access to reference data, maintenance of classifiers and reference books by experts and technical support of the system by administrators;

Use software built into the system that maintains the required level of data security and its constant updating, excluding the storage of duplicate, erroneous or outdated information;

Implement the implementation of classifiers and directories of reference data into existing management, accounting and other systems, allowing to streamline and reduce the costs of maintaining regulatory and reference information;

Promptly provide company management with the information necessary to make effective decisions.

The functioning of automated systems (AS) that are part of the corporate information system of an organization (enterprise, institution, integrated structure, government body) and ensuring the implementation of key business processes is impossible without the use of regulatory reference information (RNI). Accordingly, management efficiency modern organization largely depends on the quality of the reference data.

The LM Soft company offers services for the creation of a corporate reference data management system (CMS reference data) of an organization, which allows maintaining the quality of the regulatory and reference support of its AS at the required level.

A key element of LM Soft’s methodological approach to reference data management is the organization within the corporate information system of a single Reference Data Fund - a set of interrelated reference books, classifiers, dictionaries and regulatory documents, used by all speakers. The management of reference data arrays included in the Fund is carried out centrally by a special service - the corporate reference data center.

The creation of the NSI CMS is a set of works to establish and automate three main groups of processes for managing the NSI Fund:

processes for maintaining the Reference Data Fund (updating reference data arrays included in the Fund, and information services for reference data consumers – subscribers of the Fund);

processes of expert and methodological support of reference data arrays;

processes of organizational support of reference data arrays.

The work includes activities to form the main types of system support:

organizational (preparation of organizational structure, organizational documents and regulations);

informational (reconciliation, normalization, classification, coding, development of new master data arrays, etc.);

methodological (development of necessary techniques);

software

A generalized diagram of the organization of work is shown in the figure.

expand all sections

Prerequisites for creating a corporate reference data management system

Data processed in the automated system of any organization can be divided into two categories:

operative information;

regulatory and reference information.

Operational information – characteristics of specific operations performed by divisions of the organization. For example, on industrial enterprise it is formed in the AC class:

CAD/CAM (Computer Aided Design - Computer-aided design/Computer Aided Manufacturing - Automated production preparation);

PLM/PDM (Product Lifecycle Management - Management life cycle products/Product Data Management - Product data management);

MES (Manufacturing Execution System - management system production processes);

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning - Enterprise Resource Planning);

CRM (Customer Relationship Management), etc.

Thus, operational information supports the management of business processes of design, production, sales, procurement, financial management, etc.

Reference information is conditionally permanent information borrowed from regulatory documents and reference books and used in the operation of the AS. In foreign practice, the term Master Data is used in relation to reference data. In the AS database, regulatory and reference information is represented by arrays of reference data - sets of data generated on the basis of documents.

Operational information is generated on the basis of master data. Consequently, with low quality of reference data (errors in records, duplication, contradictions, incomplete description of objects), the efficiency of enterprise management is significantly reduced.

Typical reasons for low quality reference data are:

lack of unified classification and coding systems for reference data arrays with information about homogeneous objects;

lack of standards for describing objects represented by records of master data arrays;

lack of regulations for maintaining master data arrays.

Poor quality of reference data leads to the following main problems:

the complexity of integrating the enterprise's automated systems into a single information space;

inability to promptly obtain consolidated reporting and monitor key indicators;

the impossibility of fully organizing centralized processes (purchases, after-sales service, etc.);

mismatch of information about products at various stages of its life cycle.

Emerging problems are solved by creating a corporate reference data management system.

Organization of the functioning of the NSI CSU

KSU NSI provides automated execution of the following processes:

1. Maintaining the NSI Fund arrays:

updating the NSI Fund arrays;

information services for subscribers of the NSI Foundation;

2. Expert and methodological support of the NSI Foundation:

formation and normalization of NSI Fund arrays;

quality control of reference data arrays;

monitoring information resources and needs for reference data of departments and automated systems of the organization;

development of normative and methodological documents for the management and support of the NSI Fund.

3. Organizational support of the NSI Foundation:

maintaining the register of the Fund of reference data (register of arrays of reference data);

maintaining a register of reference data suppliers;

maintaining the register of subscribers of the NSI Foundation;

administration of users of the NSI Foundation.

The functioning scheme of the NSI Fund is given below:

Basic software

When creating a CSU, reference data are used software products class MDM (Master Data Management) - Master Data Management), implementing basic functionality:

management of the contents of master data arrays (data entry/editing/export/import, support for data normalization processes and monitoring the integrity of related arrays);

viewing and searching the contents of master data arrays (including displaying complex hierarchies and searching for duplicates);

data quality control (creation and execution of complex scenarios for identifying and correcting errors various types);

management of applications for adding/changing master data objects (including the implementation of complex approval processes);

integration (synchronization) of data (including the creation and execution of data synchronization scenarios for any array of reference data and each target AS - consumer of the reference data);

administration of users and system resources.

Both the most common foreign industrial software products of the MDM class (master data management) - IBM InfoSphere MDM, SAP NetWeaver MDM, Oracle MDM, as well as domestic specialized ones can be used as base software software package LM Soft MDM.

The main work on the creation of the NSI CSU

The development of the NSI CSU includes the following main works:

determining a list of the main functional areas of the organization’s activities, within the framework of which the management of reference data is automated, defining the goals and objectives of the Reference Data Fund;

formation of a register of automated enterprise systems, a register of local arrays of reference data in functional areas;

formation of a register of the Reference Data Fund (register of centralized arrays of reference data);

development of classification and coding systems for the NSI Foundation arrays, harmonized with industry, state and international directories and classifiers;

development of standardized description formats;

functional modeling processes of collecting and making changes to the datasets of the Reference Data Fund, information services for subscribers of the Reference Data Fund;

construction of a generalized model for storing reference data and standard schemes for integrating AS in terms of reference data;

development of hardware and software architecture for MDM solutions;

setting up a basic MDM system and developing additional software;

preparation of reference data arrays (classification, coding, reconciliation, normalization);

development of organizational and regulatory documents for the management of the NSI Fund;

development of methods for transferring master data arrays to centralized management;

transfer of master data arrays to centralized management.

Advantages of the proposed approach to creating a CSU for reference data

The main advantages of LM Soft’s approach to the development of reference data management systems include the following:

1) Master data arrays are developed in accordance with generally accepted international practice approach to the description and codification of objects (cataloging).

Each group of homogeneous master data objects must have a standardized description template with a standard base name and a fixed set of values ​​for key characteristics. The composition of characteristics in the template allows you to uniquely identify an object and assign it identification code. Lists of group names, attributes, descriptions of elements and their values ​​are maintained in the format of dictionaries (directories) in accordance with regulations that ensure their timely updating, uniqueness of values ​​and compliance with regulatory requirements, which reduces the cost of maintaining master data arrays and integrating enterprise automated systems.

2) System design is carried out in accordance with the methodology of the GOST 34 complex (Automated systems).

The NSI CSU is divided into functional subsystems (FS) according to the company’s areas of activity (materials and technical support, fixed assets management, contract management, financial management, etc.) and supporting subsystems (software, Information Support, methodological support, organizational support and so on.).

Each FP is responsible for the centralized maintenance of a set of interconnected directories and classifiers for this area of ​​activity. All FPs use common resources provided by supporting subsystems (software, integration mechanisms, organizational structure and so on.).

As a result of the implementation of the system, a single automated centralized Master Data Fund begins to function in the company, supported by single unified types of collateral. This reduces the cost of maintaining it, adding new functional subsystems and developing existing ones.

3) When creating a control system for reference data, any industrial software system of the MDM class can be used. At the same time, the LM Soft company offers its own specialized software package.

The LM Soft MDM complex is implemented on the basis of the version of the 1C: Enterprise platform certified by FSTEC of Russia.

Use of domestic software system MDM solves the problem of import substitution in terms of software, significantly reduces the cost of the implemented master data management system (compared to the use of MDM systems from foreign manufacturers) and facilitates the task of creating secure master data management systems.

Effects of implementing the NSI CSU

The effects of implementing the NSI CCS can be divided into two main groups:

1. Economic (quantitative indicators characterizing the results in the areas of activity of the Group of Companies, in physical or monetary terms):

reduction of costs for maintaining reference data;

reducing the cost of supporting existing speakers;

reducing the time for introducing new systems;

reducing the cost of AS integration;

increase in sales of final products and spare parts;

reducing costs for the purchase of material and technical resources;

decrease warehouse stocks and illiquid assets;

2. Managerial (qualitative indicators characterizing positive changes in the areas of activity of the Group of Companies, which are difficult to evaluate in physical or monetary terms):

increasing the reliability of analytical data;

reduction of time for preparing consolidated reports;

increasing the number and degree of detail of analytical features;

increasing the efficiency of design and production processes;

increasing the efficiency of after-sales service processes;

increasing the efficiency of managing receivables and payables;

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