Solution for master data integration in SAP

In SAP environments, material, vendor, or other master data is often spread across multiple organizational units, external systems, and users. This fragmentation complicates the synchronization of information, causes inconsistencies, and undermines operational efficiency—leading to delays, errors, and rework that negatively affect the business.

Faced with this reality, the need arises for a solution that enables master data integration in SAP. But what exactly does this integration involve? How can we implement it effectively? What challenges might we encounter? We will address all these questions in this blog post.

Main Challenges from the Lack of Master Data Integration in Standard SAP

Before diving into the solution—and although we’ve already highlighted some issues—it’s important to summarize the core challenges companies face when they lack proper master data integration in their SAP systems:

Absence of Strong Master Data Governance in Standard SAP: The lack of governance allows duplicate master records to be created. These duplicates result in inconsistencies, such as repeated purchases of the same material under different entries or inventory surpluses due to duplicate references—issues that are directly tied to poor master data integration.
Master Data Spread Across Multiple Systems or Divisions: Master data knowledge is frequently distributed across different departments or business units, and standard SAP does not offer a simple way to consolidate all this scattered data. This creates outdated or incomplete records and prevents a unified view of business processes, thereby highlighting the need for master data integration.
Manual and Inefficient Master Data Management: Much of the master data integration work is manual—transcribing data from spreadsheets, emails, or external templates into SAP. This process is slow, lacks real-time validation, and introduces errors and administrative overhead.
No Support for Advanced Business Rules: SAP standard restricts effective master data integration by not allowing for the implementation of business rules to ensure data consistency across entities. As a result, invalid combinations can be uploaded without system alerts, spreading errors throughout the business.
Poor Alignment Between Requesters and Validators: The lack of structured workflows involving the responsible departments during data creation results in a disconnected process. Without the correct sequence of reviews and approvals, master data integration suffers from inaccurate or incomplete entries.
No Native Approval Workflows and Performance Tracking: Standard SAP lacks built-in workflows to manage the approval process for master data creation or changes—one of the most crucial components of master data integration. Companies often rely on inefficient channels (emails, calls) or custom developments, making it almost impossible to audit data history. Moreover, without performance metrics, organizations cannot evaluate how long it takes to complete a master data request or monitor SLAs—challenges directly related to inadequate master data integration.

Structured Technical Solutions for Achieving Effective Master Data Integration in an SAP System

The good news is that there are technical approaches available to address the previously discussed issues. Implementing a master data integration solution in SAP means enhancing the ERP system with an additional layer of control, quality, and efficiency.

To choose the best option, organizations should consider acquiring an external tool that complements their SAP environment. However, not all solutions cover the necessary aspects. Below are some key features that any master data integration solution should include:

Unified Portal for Centralized Creation and Maintenance of Master Data

One of the essential elements for achieving effective master data integration in an SAP system—or any system—is having a single portal dedicated to master data management. Centralizing all data creation and modification requests in one place provides better control. Ideally, this portal should be natively integrated with SAP to streamline the process.

Using such a portal allows not only for information standardization and master data consistency across its entire lifecycle, but also for eliminating redundant manual steps. Every master data record is requested and managed through the same interface, providing complete visibility and ensuring that all business areas consult and update the same source of truth.

Automatic Validation of Key Fields via Business Rules

To ensure continuous master data integration in SAP while simplifying internal processes, the chosen solution must incorporate automated validations for critical fields. This is done through configurable business rules, allowing the system to instantly verify that key fields meet the required format and logic.

For example, the system might validate that a tax identification number is correctly formatted and not duplicated, check that bank codes exist and correspond to the stated country, or even autocomplete fields using inference logic, such as assigning the country based on the vendor’s address.

These pre-validations ensure high-quality master data integration by preventing the entry of incorrect or incomplete data, reducing the data team’s workload, minimizing manual corrections, and avoiding critical errors.

Collaborative Workflows with Defined Roles

To guarantee the quality, completeness, and integration of master data in SAP, it is advisable to use tools that support workflow configurations with clearly defined roles—from the requesting user, through functional specialists, to the final approvers responsible for data creation in the system.

These collaborative workflows ensure that no stakeholder is excluded from the validation circuit and that accountability is clearly assigned for each segment of data. The result is a more agile, transparent, and auditable process that replaces informal exchanges with a controlled sequence within the tool—strengthening the overall master data integration approach.

Rules for Proper Extension to Plants and Organizational Units

A common limitation in SAP material master data management is the incomplete creation of records—materials that have not been activated for all locations, warehouses, or sales channels where they will be needed.

To address this, the selected solution must incorporate extension rules that either automate or guide the creation of master data across all relevant organizational units. Depending on the material type or other key attributes, the system should suggest or automatically perform the extension of the material to necessary views such as purchasing, sales, planning, and finance.

This ensures that new materials are ready for use across all required areas from day one, avoiding errors due to missing activations or incomplete information—further supporting robust master data integration.

Systems to Detect and Block Duplicates Before Creation

Finally, a critical component of any master data integration solution in SAP is the ability to detect duplicates before they are committed to the database. The tool must compare each new request against existing records, checking for matches in key fields such as name, tax ID, EAN codes, or material descriptions.

If a potential duplicate is found, the system should alert the user or even block the creation, allowing verification of whether the record already exists.

This filtering mechanism drastically reduces the proliferation of duplicate entries and helps maintain long-term integrity of the master data repository. Instead of relying on periodic cleanup efforts, the issue is prevented at the source—an essential capability for sustainable master data integration.

Innova’s Solutions Beyond Master Data Integration: SiDM Suppliers and SiDM Materials

Considering all the above, Innova has developed specialized solutions that bring these improvements to life and deliver everything needed for optimal master data management within SAP: SiDM Vendors and SiDM Materials, designed for the comprehensive management of supplier and material master data, respectively.

SiDM Vendors – Supplier Master Data Management and Integration in SAP

SiDM Vendors is a solution that enhances the quality and traceability of supplier data right from the source. It standardizes the onboarding process through direct supplier involvement, automates internal reviews, and enables the integration of validated information into SAP. Additionally, it ensures regulatory compliance through compatibility with external document management systems.

Key Features:

Web portal allowing suppliers to upload their data without needing SAP access
Automatic validation of key fields and attached documents
Duplicate supplier detection (e.g., via Tax ID)
Collaborative workflows with automatic notifications
Direct approval from within SAP
Document storage in external DMS platforms such as SharePoint, Azure, or AWS S3
Fully traceable log of all actions performed by each user

SiDM Materials – Material Master Data Management and Integration in SAP

SiDM Materials allows centralized management of the material master by applying business rules that ensure data integrity and consistency. The tool optimizes the creation, validation, maintenance, and extension of materials, with support for approval workflows and controlled mass updates.

Key Features: