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What You'll Learn
As organizations accelerate cloud adoption and mature their AI strategies, migrating from traditional on-premises Master Data Management (MDM) platforms to SaaS MDM has become a strategic imperative. In 2026, Informatica’s cloud-native capabilities, particularly Cloud MDM (Customer 360 SaaS), Cloud Data Integration (CDI), and the Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC), offer enterprises a scalable, secure path to modernizing how they manage trusted data.
A successful migration, however, requires more than moving technology. It involves rethinking architecture, governance, integration patterns, and data stewardship processes to leverage the full value of the cloud. Below are best practices for customer MDM that help organizations make a smooth, future-proof transition from on-prem to SaaS MDM using Informatica.
10 Best Practices for Customer MDM
1. Establish a Clear Cloud MDM Strategy and Roadmap
Before starting migration, align your cloud MDM strategy with your business and AI objectives.
Key considerations:
- Identify which domains (Customer, Product, Supplier, etc.) will transition first.
- Define the business outcomes, improved customer 360, operational efficiency, AI readiness, compliance, etc.
- Assess your current MDM footprint: match rules, trust configurations, hierarchy models, workflows, integrations, and stewardship processes.
- Determine whether your migration will be a lift-and-transform, phased coexistence, or greenfield model.
Tip: Many organizations see faster value with a phased coexistence approach, running on-prem and cloud MDM in parallel while gradually moving data and services.
2. Evaluate Functional Parity and Gaps Early
While Informatica’s cloud MDM is rich in capabilities, its configuration patterns differ from on-prem.
Recommended steps:
- Map on-prem business rules, match/merge logic, and survivorship to SaaS equivalents.
- Identify features that change in the cloud (e.g., UI configurations, workflow capabilities, customizations).
- Review available SaaS accelerators, templates, and AI-assisted rule generation.
This gap analysis helps set realistic timelines and ensures stakeholders understand where changes are required.
3. Modernize Your Data Model Before Migration
Cloud MDM thrives on clean, simplified, and flexible data models.
Best practices for customer MDM modernization:
- Remove obsolete attributes and legacy fields.
- Standardize definitions across domains.
- Leverage cloud-native hierarchy models instead of replicating complex, custom on-prem versions.
- Ensure alignment with downstream systems (CRM, ERP, CDP, analytics platforms).
A modernized data model speeds configuration in the cloud and enhances long-term agility.
4. Rethink Integration Using Cloud-Native Tools
In 2026, Informatica provides advanced cloud-native integration services through CDI, CAI, and API-led connectivity. Rather than replicating point-to-point on-prem designs, modernize your integration approach.
Integration of best practices:
- Use CDI and CAI for ingestion, publishing, and synchronization.
- Replace batch-heavy pipelines with event-driven or incremental patterns where appropriate.
- Implement API gateways and service layers for CRM, ERP, and AI applications.
- Ensure bi-directional synchronization during coexistence periods.
Cloud-native integration reduces latency, improves scalability, and future-proofs your architecture.
5. Leverage AI and Automation for Data Matching and Quality
With Informatica’s AI-powered capabilities, you can significantly improve match accuracy and data quality during migration for a future-ready customer MDM.
Recommendations:
- Use CLAIRE®-driven profiling to identify quality issues early.
- Apply AI-assisted rule recommendations for match, merge, and survivorship logic.
- Automate cleansing, standardization, and enrichment during the migration pipeline.
- Continuously monitor data quality metrics using cloud-native dashboards.
This ensures your cloud MDM launches with clean, trusted data that drives value from day one.
6. Implement Robust Governance and Stewardship in the Cloud
Governance processes often need rethinking in a SaaS environment for customer MDM.
Best practices:
- Align roles and responsibilities with cloud-native stewardship UI and workflows.
- Review user access, security models, and compliance requirements (GDPR/CCPA).
- Update governance policies to reflect new integration patterns and data domains.
- Enable cloud-native audit trails and lineage tracking.
Strong governance ensures trust, transparency, and regulatory confidence across your data ecosystem.
7. Plan a Phased Migration and Rigorous Testing Approach
A structured migration plan reduces risk and improves adoption for customer MDM.
Key steps:
- Start with one domain or a subset of records to validate configurations.
- Conduct end-to-end system testing across integrations, match rules, survivorship, and hierarchy processing.
- Validate data lineage from source → cloud MDM → consuming systems.
- Run dual-processing in coexistence mode until confidence is achieved.
Phased rollouts help organizations capture quick wins and reduce disruption.
Also read about: Customer 360 – A Practical Point of View with LumenData Insights
8. Optimize Performance and Scalability in SaaS MDM
Cloud MDM brings elastic scalability, but performance optimization still matters.
Optimization guidelines:
- Review batch sizes, processing windows, and match rules for efficiency.
- Offload heavy transformations to CDI or upstream systems.
- Use cloud MDM’s operational insights dashboards to monitor throughput and latency.
- Ensure your cloud integration architecture supports expected transaction volumes.
Performance tuning ensures your SaaS environment meets real-time and near-real-time demands.
9. Prepare Your Users for New Cloud Workflows
Even the best migration for customer MDM will fail without strong user adoption.
Enablement activities:
- Train stewards, analysts, and business users on the cloud UI and workflows.
- Provide documentation, runbooks, and sandbox environments.
- Communicate changed processes, especially around hierarchy management, stewardship, and approvals.
Cloud MDM brings simpler user experiences, but thoughtful enablement ensures smooth transitions.
10. Partner with Experienced Cloud MDM Experts
Migrating from on-prem MDM to SaaS is complex; leveraging the right partner accelerates delivery and reduces risk for customer MDM.
What the right partner, like LumenData, provides for customer MDM:
- Proven accelerators for data migration, model conversion, and match-rule translation
- Templates for governance, integration, and coexistence architecture
- Experience with Informatica Customer 360 SaaS configurations
- Guided change management and user enablement
The right expertise helps organizations unlock cloud value faster and more reliably for customer MDM.
How Can the Informatica MDM Modernization Help?
Informatica MDM modernization involves transforming traditional, on-premises master data management environments into scalable, cloud-native, AI-assisted platforms that better support today’s data, integration, and governance needs. Modernization typically includes migrating from older Informatica MDM Hub deployments to Informatica Cloud MDM or the Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC), enabling more automated data stewardship, improved match-and-merge performance, and real-time APIs for operational use cases.
By 2026, Informatica MDM modernization is expected to be deeply shaped by its IDMC evolution, making master data both more intelligent and more operational. The platform’s recent enhancements, such as AI-driven match analysis with CLAIRE explainability, and an Enrichment & Validation Orchestrator that leverages large language models for real-time data validation, are projected to become foundational in modern MDM workflows. MDM SaaS on Oracle Cloud (OCI) is now widely available, reinforcing multi-cloud flexibility and reducing latency for enterprises that run their infrastructure on OCI.
The global MDM market is projected to reach $23.8 billion by 2030. Governance and data lineage are also tighter than ever, thanks to automated metadata scanning and cataloging, which integrate MDM with data catalog and governance services in real time. Legacy on-prem MDM systems are being replaced with elastic, cloud-native services that minimize technical debt, automate data stewardship, and provide a trusted, AI-ready 360° view of critical entities like customers, products, and suppliers.
End Note
Migrating from on-prem to SaaS MDM using Informatica in 2026 is more than a technical upgrade; it is a strategic transformation for customer MDM, enabling trusted data, scalable AI, and modern digital experiences. By following these best practices for customer MDM, organizations can reduce migration risk, accelerate time-to-value, and establish a future-ready data foundation.
About LumenData
LumenData is a leading provider of Enterprise Data Management, Cloud and Analytics solutions and helps businesses handle data silos, discover their potential, and prepare for end-to-end digital transformation. Founded in 2008, the company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with locations in India.
With 150+ Technical and Functional Consultants, LumenData forms strong client partnerships to drive high-quality outcomes. Their work across multiple industries and with prestigious clients like Versant Health, Boston Consulting Group, FDA, Department of Labor, Kroger, Nissan, Autodesk, Bayer, Bausch & Lomb, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Cummins, Gilead, HP, Nintendo, PC Connection, Starbucks, University of Colorado, Weight Watchers, KAO, HealthEdge, Amylyx, Brinks, Clara Analytics, and Royal Caribbean Group, speaks to their capabilities.
For media inquiries, please contact: marketing@lumendata.com.
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