Connect and Enrich Business Data for a Complete Picture

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Add a related record to an existing record and select the appropriate relationship type.
  
• Describe the predefined relationship types available in Supplier 360.
  
• Explain when to submit a record directly versus when to send it for approval.
  

From Individual Records to a Complete Picture

A record tells you something. A record connected to other records tells you everything. The Coral Cloud Resorts procurement team has populated its master database with supplier and contact records. However, these records gain true value only through connections, such as linking Michelle Tran to PrimeLinens and Hospitality Goods Company as its point of contact. That relationship needs to be in the data.

In Informatica Master Data Management (MDM) SaaS, you link records together using predefined relationship types that define how entities connect. Once these connections are in place, you decide how to publish them. You can publish directly to the master data, or use an approval workflow to ensure your records meet your organization's data governance standards.

Add a Related Record

When you add a related record, you link two existing records and define the nature of their connection. This gives your master data a complete picture, not just what each entity is, but how entities relate to each other.

Follow these steps to add a related record.

1. Open the record you want to add a relationship to.
   
2. Go to the Related Records section.
   
3. Select the + icon to add a related record.
   

4. Select the appropriate Relationship Type.
   

5. Search for and select the record you want to link.
   
6. Select Add.
   

7. Select the checkmark icon to save the changes and click Submit.
   

Both records must already exist in the master data before you can link them. Create the individual records first, then add the relationship.

Predefined Relationship Types

Informatica MDM SaaS provides predefined relationship types so that every connection in your master database has a clear, consistent meaning. When you select the right relationship type, you ensure your data accurately reflects real-world connections between entities.

The following relationship types are available in Supplier 360.

The Coral Cloud Resorts procurement team links Michelle Tran’s contact record to the PrimeLinens and Hospitality Goods Company supplier record using the supplier-to-contact relationship type. This accurately reflects that Michelle Tran is the account executive and primary point of contact for that supplier.

Relationship types are directional. Use Supplier to Contact on the supplier record to indicate the supplier’s point of contact. Set both sides of the relationship for a complete, accurate connection.

Submit Directly or Send for Approval

After you create or update a record, Informatica MDM SaaS gives you two options for publishing it to the master database—submit directly or send for approval. The right choice depends on your organization’s data governance requirements.

Coral Cloud Resorts’s governance policy requires that new relationship records go through an approval workflow before they appear in the master data. Its data steward reviews the PrimeLinens and Hospitality Goods Company and Michelle Tran relationship, confirms it is accurate, and approves it. This ensures every connection in the master data has been verified.

Trusted, Connected Master Data

With the right structure, records, and relationships in place, the Coral Cloud Resorts procurement team has achieved its goal. Its master database now reflects real-world connections between suppliers and their contacts—instead of just storing data. Every record is structured. Every relationship is defined. And every addition goes through the right review process before it becomes part of the trusted master record.

That’s master data management working as it should—clean, connected, and reliable. And now you have the skills to build it.

Resources

• Informatica Documentation: Supplier 360 | Adding a Related Record Scenario (login required)
• Informatica Documentation: Product 360 | Adding a Related Record Scenario (login required)
• Informatica Documentation: Customer 360 | Adding a Related Record Scenario (login required)