Angels and Demons, the movie - Vatican needs Software

I went to see Angels and Demons this weekend and I must admit it was a pleasant surprise. I had read Angels and Demons in 8 hours one weekend, it literally was so compelling and exciting that I couldn’t put it down. So going to the movie, I feared the worst because I wasn’t exactly thrilled with Tom Hanks in the Da Vinci Code and thought that the movie didn’t do that book justice.

I’d rate the movie a solid B+, very exciting,only slightly straying from the book in places and for once I could agree that the elements they changed or left out, did make for a better movie. BTW, Ewan McGregor was great, I think he really helped the movie. Thinking back, the Da Vinci Code needed another “star” to bring out a major character and make that movie better … but I digress.

It’s great to go to the movies to get away from thoughts of work and software/technology, but ironically it’s movies like this that accentuate the need for real life business software like Master Data Management (MDM). Let me explain, hopefully without blowing the plot for those of you who are intending to go see the movie or read the book.

In Angels and Demons, Tom Hanks plays Professor Robert Langdon, the same character from the Da Vinci Code. His mission this time is to help the Vatican prevent the imminent murders of 4 cardinals and also to find a nuclear like explosive device somewhere in Vatican City. Much like the Da Vinci code, there are a series of clues that lead to a trail and path to where the cardinals will be executed and ultimately where the bomb is located.

How has any of this to do with technology software called MDM you ask? Firstly, the clues (source data) that are required to piece together the puzzle are “siloed” in multiple locations. Some of the facts have multiple meanings, or previous locations, because things get moved around and require clarification(cleanse). There are several historical “records” that are related and tie in together only when distinct facts are discovered through each unique “source” (match and create cross references). Tom Hanks, who plays Robert Langdon, pieces all of this together as he gathers the data. Had he used a state of the art MDM system he would have been able to feed in the data from multiple sources to be cleansed, matched, merged and then cross relationships and hierarchies could be visualized. Allowing him to solve the problem and save the day much more quickly! Hard to believe that the Vatican with all that money and state of the art technology doesn’t have software to assist with such analysis.

Business corporations benefit from the same form of discovery using software technology for MDM within their own walls to solve their own Angels and Demons style puzzles and problems. Those solutions manifest themselves in the form of KYC (Know Your Customer), Basel II, HIPAA and other regulatory compliances, as well as potential up sell opportunities through relationship discovery.

Bottom line, Angels and Demons was worth the price of admission. MDM is as well as a software technology.

Originally published on my Blog at http://www.ramonchen.com/?p=1091