What is the difference between PIM, MDM or PXM?
Which solution is the right one for me? Interview with Jürgen Burger from SIMIO
Providing an independent view of systems for managing data, particularly product data, and individual customer consulting... that's exactly what SIMIO stands for.
Jürgen Burger, Managing Director of SIMIO, is very familiar with the world of product data management, systems and providers. He explained to us in a recent interview what is important when selecting a system.
Sebastian Hardung
Thank you very much for your time. Today, SIMIO advises companies looking for the right solution to improve their product communication. The market for corresponding systems seems almost endless, and the feeling quickly arises that different terms are used for comparable systems. How do you see this?
Jürgen Burger
First of all, thank you for the invitation. And yes, there is indeed not only a still growing number of providers and systems in the corresponding market, but also an ever larger " terminology zoo". When it comes to product data management, I myself distinguish between three major classes in the meantime: PIM, PXM (or PIM 2.0) and MDM.
Sebastian Hardung
How does PIM differ specifically from PXM?
Jürgen Burger
PIM, or Product Information Management, is first and foremost not software, but a principle of action. As the name suggests, it is concerned solely with product information. The most essential aspect of all PIM systems is the central management of all product data in a so-called "single source of truth". The associated structuring and consolidation of product data facilitates and accelerates the transfer of data to a wide variety of output channels - in other words, product communication.
With the rise of target group-oriented communication and product communication, the requirements for PIM systems have increased significantly in recent years:
It became increasingly important to be able to manage other entities (such as personas, application areas, regions, etc.) in addition to the "product" entity. Additionally, the focus increasingly shifted from the individual entities to the relationships between the entities. After all, it is this relationship knowledge that makes it possible to communicate in a way that is appropriate for the target group. This development has significantly increased the demands on PIM systems: flexible data modeling with a wide variety of entities, the mapping of complex relationships in neural networks, high performance and other aspects have led to PIM evolving into what we like to call PIM 2.0. In the meantime, the term PXM (Product Experience Management) has become established on the market. I also like this term very much because it expresses the fact that the perspective on the entire topic has changed - away from the (dry) management of product data to a view that focuses on the benefits, namely the improvement of the product experience.
Sebastian Hardung
Then all that's missing now is a classification of the term MDM.
Jürgen Burger
MDM, as an abbreviation for Master Data Management, is actually understood as an approach that deals with the management of all master data of a company. By definition, master data is state-oriented data that describes the core entities of a company, i.e. customers, suppliers, clients, employees, products, and the like. When the term MDM is used in the context of product communication, it often refers to systems that focus on the product entity and therefore have corresponding functionalities.
Sebastian Hardung
Do you see a trend in which direction the requirements of companies are developing?
Jürgen Burger
Two things come to mind spontaneously: Driven by their customers' demands for better product communication, companies' requirements for system-side support are also increasing. This forces the aforementioned development from PIM to PXM.
In our evaluation mandates, we also experience more and more frequently that not only the technological and functional aspects of a system are considered, but the entire solution package. Behind this is the knowledge - often resulting from painful experience - that the best system is of no use if the implementation does not run well. This is why more and more attention is being paid to this aspect in selection processes.
Sebastian Hardung
Coming back to you, where can you help companies with SIMIO?
Jürgen Burger
In the context of product communication, we see our central task in creating the best possible match between companies with their own individual needs on the one hand and the solutions available on the market on the other. As the basis for this, we permanently analyze the provider market and create profiles of the individual solutions. In turn, we use these highly granular provider profiles in consulting mandates in order to mirror them against the individual requirement profiles of our customers and thus recommend the most suitable solutions in each case.
By the way, I am deliberately talking about solutions and not systems. In addition to the almost self-evident technological and functional aspects, we also take into account the company and the people behind the systems. This mixture results in a very unique profile in each case - and only those who take this into account can identify the most suitable solution for their requirements.
The foundation of what we do is, on the one hand, many years of experience and, on the other, values such as honesty and respect. That's why we also take great care to remain independent, so that we can support our customers objectively and thus in the best possible way.
Sebastian Hardung
Thank you very much for explaining your point of view. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it at priint:day as part of our trainee camp, when you explain more about the differences and similarities of content systems and their importance in your presentation "Content systems: An overview".