Summary
The following enhancements have been made to the Customer and Supplier Master Data Management solution:
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List Processing for data preparation now allows imports from multiple lists, enabling users to create a consolidated list of records.
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Golden Record Clerical Review Task List for Match and Merge has been improved with search and filter options.
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The Delete Handler parameter has been removed from the Merge Golden Record operation dialog, allowing users to focus on the most beneficial parameters.
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Within Solution Enablement documentation, updates have been made for 10.3 and will also be available for 10.3-MP1.
For additional Match and Merge improvements, refer to the New Machine Learning Match Recommendations for Clerical Review Task List release note in this 10.3 release note set here.
Details
List processing allows import of multiple lists into a target list
Now that the list processing functionality allows imports of multiple source lists into a single target list, a consolidated list of records can be created. Additionally, the process card labels are updated to reflect that records can be added as well as removed during processing. This functionality gives users greater flexibility in preparing lists for business consumption and enables managing large volumes of customer / prospect data.
The new 'Import from Other Lists' (IFOL) operation is available on a list processing configuration object in workbench. The IFOL operation also allows applying an optional business action to each imported record, for example, to set or modify attribute values. In Web UI, on a target list, choosing to run a list processing configuration that includes an IFOL operation prompts the user to select the source lists to import. The target list is expanded with the imported source list records.
As shown in the 'Consolidate Lists' initiated in the configuration below, a new wizard guides the user to select the source lists to be added to the target list.
List processing functionality is optional and available on systems with the activated List Processing commercial license (in addition to the standard Customer MDM domain license). Contact Stibo Systems to begin the process of enabling a license or licenses for your system.
For more information, refer to the List Processing Operations topic in the Data Preparation documentation here.
Golden Record Clerical Review Task List improvements for Match and Merge
The Golden Record Clerical Review Task List used for a Match and Merge solution holds tasks for merging records that are deemed to be potential duplicates — those records that fall within the clerical review threshold range set in the matching algorithm. For every task in the task list, only a single golden record is in the workflow. The other potential duplicates are included based on their match score. A data steward manually reviews groups of potential duplicate records on the task list and determines if the golden records should be merged or if they are not duplicates and should be kept separate.
Prior to this release, while the list of records in the workflow was combined with the potential duplicates to be displayed on the screen, the complete list was not stored nor accessible. Consequently, search was only possible on the records in the clerical review workflow, excluding the potential duplicates. Since only one record in each group is in the workflow, users could not easily find a particular group of records. This also resulted in not being able to filter or prioritize the task list. Now, on the Matching - Merge Golden Record component model, the new Potential Duplicate Reference Type aspect works with the new Potential Duplicate Match Algorithm aspect to resolve these issues. Configuring the new aspects allows the potential duplicate records to be identified even though they are not in the workflow and provides a variety of searching options as well as filtering capabilities via the Golden Record Attribute Value Header on the task list. Productivity is improved for data stewards now that they can identify and take action on the most important clerical review tasks in a timely manner.
The new Potential Duplicate Match Algorithm ID and Potential Duplicate Reference Type aspects in the Matching - Merge Golden Record component model (shown below) must be configured to use the potential duplicate references and allow filtering in the Clerical Review Task List. For configuration information, refer to the Configuring the Matching - Merge Golden Record Component Model topic in the Matching, Linking, and Merging documentation here.
On an existing system, after configuring the Potential Duplicates Reference functionality, update existing data to include the new references. To do so, on the relevant Event Processor, republish events for all nodes included on the Triggering Object Types flipper in the Event Triggering Definitions tab. When the ‘Unread events (approximated)’ count is zero, the potential duplicates references data is available in Web UI.
For more information, refer to the Golden Record Clerical Review Task List topic in the Matching, Merging, and Linking documentation here.
Delete Handler parameter removed from Merge Golden Record configuration
In a Match and Merge algorithm, the Merge Golden Record operation previously allowed the user to select a Create Handler, a Delete Handler, and a Merge Handler business action. While the Delete Handler is useful in a Link Golden Record scenario, it is generally not needed for the Merge Golden Record scenario. Now, by default, the Merge Golden Record operation on the Match Action Configuration dialog no longer includes the Delete Handler parameter. Reducing the number of options on the dialog allows users to focus on the most beneficial parameters.
With this release, for existing Merge Golden Record operations with a Delete Handler business action assigned, no change is made to the configuration. For a use case that requires the parameter, contact Stibo Systems for assistance in restoring it.
For more information, refer to the Configuring Match and Merge topic in the Matching, Linking, and Merging documentation here.
Solution Enablement documentation updates
Within the Customer & Supplier MDM Solution Enablement documentation, updates have been made to the 'SAP S/4HANA Business Partner Data Structures' and the 'SAP Business Partner Integrations' sections. These updates will be included in the 10.3-MP1 release documentation. To receive this information prior to upgrading to the maintenance patch, contact Stibo Systems.