The technical capabilities of virtual, physical, and hybrid
MDM help you to manage your master data, whether you store that data
in a distributed fashion, in a centralized repository, or in a combination
of both.
The following definitions show the differences and the relationships
among the technical capabilities:
- Virtual MDM
- The management of master data where master data is created in
a distributed fashion on source systems and remains fragmented across
those systems with a central "indexing" service.
- Physical MDM
- The management of master data where master data is created in
(or loaded into), stored in, and accessed from a central system.
- Hybrid MDM
- The management of master data where a coexistence implementation
style combines physical and virtual technologies.
Relative to your master data goals, you might require the technical
capabilities of virtual MDM, physical MDM, or hybrid MDM. These capabilities
are not implementation styles, but instead they are means by which
you might achieve your goals for a particular implementation style.
Where and how you choose to store a golden record is reflected by
the implementation style for your MDM solution. The distinction between
product capabilities and implementation styles is as follows:
- You can achieve a registry implementation style by installing
the Standard Edition and by using the virtual MDM capabilities.
- You can achieve a centralized implementation style by installing
the Advanced Edition and by using the physical MDM capabilities.
- You can achieve a coexistence implementation style by installing
the Advanced or Enterprise Edition and by using the hybrid MDM capabilities.
The following diagram shows the interrelationships of physical
and virtual MDM capabilities as they relate to the editions:
In previous releases, you might have used the following products
to achieve equivalent results with each capability:
Table 1. CapabilitiesTechnical capability |
Previous product name |
virtual MDM |
Initiate Master Data Service® |
physical MDM |
InfoSphere® MDM
Server |
hybrid MDM |
InfoSphere MDM
Server Initiate
Master Data Service
|
collaborative MDM |
InfoSphere MDM
Server for Product Information Management (PIM) |