DAMA - SAP MDG: Concept #8

❗️The Problem

You manage data models, attributes, workflows.
But the actual business reality lives elsewhere:

• Contracts

• Certificates

• Product sheets

• Supplier forms

• Change approvals

These aren’t structured fields — but they are part of the data.
If they’re missing, outdated, or unmanaged — your governance is incomplete.

---

🧠 What DAMA Means by Document & Content Management

This area is about how you handle non-structured business content — files, images, PDFs, scanned forms, and even emails.

It includes:

• Storing documents with metadata

• Linking content to master data records

• Versioning and approval of documents

• Security and retention

• Searchability and classification

If you treat documents as “attachments”, you miss half the story.

---

DAMA Key Components

---

🔧 In SAP MDG: Where This Lives

SAP MDG supports basic document handling, but it often depends on integration:

---

⚠️ Risks of Ignoring Content

• Onboarding vendors without proper documents

• Wrong versions of certificates in audits

• Missing legal approvals for materials

• Regulatory issues due to untraceable changes

• Governance process blocked because “the file was in an email”

Documents are data too. Just not the kind you SELECT * from.

---

🧠 Questions to Ask

• What documents are legally or operationally required per data type?

• Where are they stored — and are they linked to the master record?

• Who controls document access and lifecycle?

• Can we prove a document existed at a specific point in time?

If the answer is “it’s probably somewhere” — you have content chaos.

---

💬 Bottom Line

Structured data tells you what.
Documents often tell you why.

If your data governance ignores content — you’re managing numbers, not decisions.