What is our primary use case?
The solution is primarily used for workflows.
For example, in Turkey, some of our customers have different material quotes, material numbers, or material types. Everything is so confusing from the main company. It's hard to go over the old data. However, with MDG, they can see all the data in the system. It allows for an effective data workflow. There are workflows for all kinds of items, including materials, data, customer's financials, vendor details, ERPs, etc.
What is most valuable?
The solution's GUI is very good. The entire product is very user-friendly and easy to navigate. Normal users, not SAP experts, are able to get around the solution without too much trouble.
The reporting is quite good on the product.
We've found the solution to be quite flexible.
There's a workflow in MDG. What happens is, when you end it, the materials are created. However, in Data Quote Management, when for example, you make a project, to use later you can activate Data Quote Management, and set new rules. When you check it on the Data Quote Management screen, it shows charts and analytics. You define the rule, it shows you the materials that don't fit with your rule. It's actually good practice to improve your data. You can set the workflows however you want. The analytics are largely for CFO or CEO, and they can see all data within the charts.
What needs improvement?
The implementation could be easier.
The governance of master data is difficult, and consolidating the old data is really hard. MDG projects tend to last a minimum of six months, and this is largely due to the fact that there are too many rules.
The biggest problem in MDG is that you have to make rules and you have to set your rules very strictly and you need to prepare your data for your rules. If you don't, your old data is kaput.
The marketing of the product outside of Europe should be better. While it might be well known in places like Germany or England, it doesn't have the same recognition in Turkey. Our first MDG project was only two or three years ago. It's pretty new to the scene.
The solution is lacking configuration in one system. For example, there's a lack of country definitions, country tax category definitions in MDG, and in all ERPs. When MM projects are done, they configure everything.
For example, my customer only does business with European Union countries. They don't define European Union country's tax number categories, however, when they deal with Israel, they don't define it in the old ERP system. It's a problem. You need to have a conversation with all seven ERP consultants and tell them to redefine this tax number category. It could be better, maybe, or easier.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have a year's experience when it comes to dealing with the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is quite stable. You need to ensure the rules you create are strict, however, the performance itself is good. If you are not strict with the rules, it's hard to fix things once that happens.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution can scale and is expanding. For example, in the first MDG version, it was very basic. However, in newer MDG versions, SAP gets some new business objects like Data Quote Management and analytics. They are continuing to build out the product.
Currently, we have around 2,000 users at this time.
How are customer service and support?
We have technical support for our company. We can open tickets if we run into issues. Typically, it takes two to three days to resolve things. It's not too difficult to reach out to them. It's quite typical and they aren't extremely helpful.
For example, when we have a problem and we open a ticket to SAP, they tend to say, "You need to check this quote". You need to check it, yet they don't define the specific problems. They say, "Check here", "Check this", "Check this quote", and we check it and we try to find the problem. They could be more helpful in that sense.
How was the initial setup?
It's important, at the outset, to be very strict about the rules you are setting, otherwise, you can lose data and it's hard to fix things.
In terms of deployment and maintenance, for a simple MDG project, it depends on what data a company want. For example, one project management person is for sure needed, as well as one senior manager, one senior consultant, two engineers, and one technical consultant for sure. This is the minimum you'll need for a team.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
SAP tends to sell the customer the license, however, they make money on the amount of data.
The problem is in Turkey, there are economic issues that affect SAP's sector in Turkey. For example, five years ago, one euro was three Turkish lira, now it's nine Turkish lira, so SAP, now costs triple the amount, actually.
SAP is aware of this, and they do try to offer discounts, however, I don't know how much as I'm not in the sales meetings. It's not an aspect of the business I worry about.
What other advice do I have?
I'm an SAP consultant.
I would recommend the solution to other users. It's flexible and has a good GUI. It's useful for business processes.
Overall, I would rate the product at an eight out of ten. We've been mostly pleased with the results.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner