Customers often ask me how automation can help master data stewards safeguard high-quality master data. One example of how we are tackling this challenge is the automation in the mining of data quality rules, which was introduced with SAP Master Data Governance on SAP S/4HANA 1909 and has evolved with each new release. ((https://blogs.sap.com/2019/09/23/using-mdg-rule-mining-to-improve-data-quality/))

And now, with SAP Master Data Governance on S/4HANA 2021 Feature Pack Stack 01, we’ve taken an additional step forward by enabling derivation rules for the management of attributes of product and business partner data.

If you’re struggling with piecing together spreadsheets, ABAP code, customizing tables and master data management UIs to get automated processes running, our new Define Derivation Scenarios apps may be a remedy.

What can you expect?

• Derivation rules are introduced to derive the value(s) of single or multiple fields. This includes the ability to set the derived value as a default value. Derivation rules can also create and update dependent entities (for example, create a storage location when a plant is created).​
• Derivation scenarios are provided to combine derivation rules into executable and manageable units. This facilitates the lifecycle management, configuration and data maintenance by business users.​
• Derivation scenarios can then be used in mass processing and consolidation, for example to automate the extension of materials to plants or to create customer data for a business partner.​

How these features look in the system you can see in the following tutorial. The basic functionality of the app ‘Define Derivation Scenarios for Business Partners’ is shown. The shown derivation scenario extends general business partner data with general customer data, customer company code data and dunning data. It is explained step-by-step how you can add a new derivation rule to an existing scenario and apply it in a consolidation process.

These new apps for the definition of derivations follow the same pattern as the ones for validation rules. There is a central entry point for the management of your validations and derivations. Users contributing their business know-how collaborate with the IT people – and thanks to the user friendly SAP Fiori apps, the lifecycle management is in the hands of the business users.

For a comprehensive overview of what SAP Master Data Governance on SAP S/4HANA provides so far for data quality management, check out our How-to material.

We offer apps for every step of the data quality management process.

You can e.g. check it out in the SAP Cloud Appliance Library. with details given in Kefeng’s blog

Thus you can go forward to improve your master data quality and automate your master data processes.