A Note About Checkout And Staging 

Many master data management systems establish an actual staging environment outside the repository for processing raw inbound data before allowing it into the master data store. Such processing includes transforming and restructuring the data, correcting data quality issues, and checking new records against existing records for duplicates. In effect, staging requires a complete data management system outside the master data management system.

By contrast, MDM checkouts can be used to create a “virtual” staging environment that addresses these processing challenges within the repository rather than outside of it. Specifically, raw data is imported directly into the repository in a checked-out state, with subsequent processing orchestrated by workflow to perform validation, enrichment, and matching, after which changes may be approved and automatically checked in, or rejected and rolled back.

The virtual staging approach offered by checkouts is superior to an explicit staging environment outside the repository, protecting approved records from not-yet-validated incoming data and insulating end users from intermediate changes, while simultaneously offering internal users not only all of MDM’s powerful data management features for working on in-process records, but also complete high-performance searchability of those records regardless of their stage in the process.