Quick thoughts from Scottsdale.  Initiate as many you know is one of the leaders in the customer hubs/MDM market.  At their annual conference, Initiate Exchange, a few key trends emerged from conversations with customers and partners:

• Rapid deployment still key to securing buy-in a the business level. The registry style approach lends itself to demonstrating quick value.  This has led project sponsors to secure more funding for longer term MDM projects.  Conversations with Initiate customers confirm that implementation times are quicker because of the types and complexity of the initial deployments.
• Exchanges move beyond the healthcare arena. Commercial customers are learning from the trend of collaborative Healthcare networks.  These networks typically share patient and provider data within and across their networks in order to support accurate information across the ecosystem.  Retailers and manufacturers are starting to see the value in this area.
• Scarce skill sets abound in kicking off MDM projects. Customers confirm that staffing of technical resources has improved significantly.  But both system integrators and customers admit that scarce skill exist for project kick off activities such as setting the stage from change management, building the infrastructure for data governance, and creating and staffing effective program management.  This is a trend not just for attendees but across the industry.
• Version 8.5 generates a lot of interest. Customers who stopped by the demo kiosk expressed positive comments about the new collaborative data stewardship capabilities, streamlined user experience, and the Initiate Inspector Inbox.  Those with Group 1 looked forward to using the geo codes in the new adapters.

The bottom line
Initiate customers remain quite satisfied with their choice and the level of investment in R&D by the management team.  A growing list of partners continue to bolster Initiate's mind share in industries outside of their core pharma, health care, and public sector.
Your POV
Do these trends jive with what you are seeing in MDM and CDI?  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.  Post a comment or privately reach out to me at [email protected]  Check it out on the Forrester Blogs.
Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.