Unified data has created trusted golden records but complex AI matching still needs clearer control
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for Reltio Cloud is that we are a government organization focusing on data management.
Reltio Cloud is a platform where we can have a single trusted data view which unifies our fragmented data across various systems. We manage the Department of Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources, and within our department, different teams have scattered data without a single source of truth, hence the need to create a golden copy.
I use Reltio Cloud to create a golden copy. For example, if there is a finance record of J. Smith with the email j.smith@gmail.com, in a different system, the same person may be listed as John Smith with another email, john.smith@gmail.com. Since John Smith appears with different names across various systems, I need to merge them, creating a standard email for him to form a golden copy. I start by bringing all the data sources together through a data ingestion step, loading both my CRM and finance databases via APIs which includes raw data that could be duplicated. I then create a data model, defining terms such as person, customer, and organization along with their attributes and relationships. I establish rules to identify duplicates and create survivorship rules to determine the most trustworthy sources. If conflicts arise with the survivorship rules, the authoritative source helps to resolve this. For instance, if the same email appears in two places, we can choose that email as it is likely to be the correct one.
This process allows me to create a golden copy and merge the records into one unified source of data.
What is most valuable?
The best features that Reltio Cloud offers include data management and data unification, which involves combining data from multiple sources into a single copy, thus creating a single source of truth.
It also assists in match and merge, for example, by aggregating name or email data from a customer or case database to identify duplicate records. Additionally, it enhances data quality by cleansing, validating, and monitoring data quality over time, ensuring data is usable and accurate. Reltio Cloud facilitates real-time data integration through APIs, synchronizing data across applications and providing a comprehensive 360 view of entities, interactions, and attributes. For instance, it illustrates how a citizen using a service ties into a payment recorded in a case, allowing relationship intelligence where entities (people, organizations, properties) are linked. It also implements survivorship rules, defines which data should prevail in conflicts, and supports role-based access control for data governance, enabling workflows for data stewardship and ensuring compliance with regulations. With AI assistance, Reltio Cloud enables automated governance workflows and is not confined to a single domain, offering high scalability and performance, marking it as an excellent choice for data management.
Reltio Cloud has positively impacted my organization by providing a valuable outlook on the data we utilize. It removes inconsistencies and duplicates, leading to better data quality. When data quality is good, it fosters trust, allowing for effective reporting utilized by senior leaders, significantly reducing errors in decision-making due to improved data quality. Reltio Cloud has introduced a single source of truth, a solution to issues caused by teams sharing data via email and losing track of the latest updates. Before, inconsistencies prevailed when teams altered data without a centralized reference, but now, Reltio Cloud offers a consolidated database minimizing manual reconciliation efforts.
As a result, up to 97-78% of operations now have a clearer view, allowing us to focus more on enhancing our operations rather than rectifying data discrepancies. Thus, productivity has surged, leading to significant cost reductions, with my estimate being over a million dollars in savings within the last few months, enabling faster decision-making and real-time data access without the need for manual compilation. Improved customer 360 views and strong data governance have also helped the organization avoid hefty compliance fines that were previously incurred, illustrating a model for more effective time utilization.
What needs improvement?
Reltio Cloud has greatly enhanced our data management, and I acknowledge there are areas where our team continues to face challenges. Specifically, the AI-based matching feature operates like a black box, making it difficult to understand why certain records are matched or not matched accurately. If there could be better visual debugging and clarity regarding why records are matched, it would significantly aid our decision-making process.
The technical configuration, particularly regarding data models and rule matching, can be overly complex for business users, hence a more user-friendly approach, with simplified guidelines, would be incredibly beneficial. Additionally, data stewardship can present complexities, and clearer actions can facilitate addressing these challenges.
Performance issues can arise with larger data models and numerous data sources impacting system use, hence enhancements in optimization and ready-to-use features for complex configurations are essential. Pricing can also be convoluted; therefore, a clearer cost model would aid users in comprehending the structure. While data lineage has its merits, it is complex to interpret; thus, improved visualization would greatly benefit users. Ultimately, technical complexity emerges as the primary challenge we face, revealing opportunities for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Reltio Cloud for more than seven months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Reltio Cloud exhibits good scalability, managing large data volumes efficiently. Although it can become challenging, it is capable of handling millions or billions of records effectively and performs matching and merging operations on extensive data sets. Reltio Cloud supports real-time updates on transactions and continuous data processing, which is crucial, especially in our government organization that requires accurate, current data for public dissemination.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support is good; I would not classify it as excellent, but it is satisfactory. I would rate the customer support as an eight out of ten.
What was our ROI?
I can confirm that we have seen a return on investment from this tool, particularly concerning cost savings by reducing legacy systems, which led to savings of about a million. Faster processing and reconciliation have notably improved our overall operations, translating to another million in efficiency. We require fewer employees, as expenses related to data cleaning have reduced, underscoring the time saved; we experience a 70% to 80% reduction in time spent on data inquiries and a 30% to 50% faster case handling process, while approximately 90% of the time spent on manual duplication tasks has been eliminated, contributing to quicker decision-making and eradication of duplicate records.
What other advice do I have?
If I have to choose the most important feature among all these, it is the match and merge, which stands at the core of data management and reconciliation. The primary issues in my organization revolve around duplicate and inconsistent records, making it challenging to identify individuals with slight variations in names such as J. Smith and John Smith. Since data is spread everywhere and is a significant asset to the organization, it is critical to have correctly maintained data for effective use. Therefore, I find match and merge to be essential, as it helps identify duplicates and merge records into a singular source of truth.
This capacity to create a golden record and trust in data is vital for building a comprehensive 360 view.
In terms of metrics, I can provide several specific outcomes from using Reltio Cloud. Previously, each record required users to verify information across three to five systems, taking around 30 minutes for manual reconciliations, but now, with a single golden record, that time has decreased to just five to ten minutes, saving up to 70% to 80% of time. Earlier, data stewards spent hours identifying duplicate records, but this time has decreased by 80%. Gathering information for a case used to be a two-day process, but now it is accomplished within a single day, reducing case processing time by 50%. Report preparation has also markedly improved, transitioning from taking several weeks to now merely hours due to clean, readily available data. Therefore, what used to require an hour in the past has been reduced to mere minutes per case, showcasing significant time and effort savings with this tool.
I believe having a solid balance between business and technical aspects is crucial since data management tools exist to help business stakeholders who may not be technically inclined. Reducing the coding requirements to enhance business-friendliness would be my main concern for improvement.
For others considering Reltio Cloud, I would advise starting with a clear objective regarding the data issues they aim to resolve, rather than adopting the tool without a strategically defined problem. Understanding what data is critical to success is vital. Heavy investment in data modeling, early identification of data relationships, and attribute ownership follows, with match and merge identified as foundational to achieving accurate results. It is crucial to define simple rules to facilitate understanding before progressing to complex setups. Workflows should emphasize business needs rather than being driven solely by IT, reflecting the importance of collaborative efforts. Lastly, clear success parameters for ongoing improvements enable tracking and enhancement efforts. I would give this product an overall rating of six out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Consulting team maximizes cloud features while seeking workflow improvements
What is our primary use case?
We are currently using Reltio Cloud. We are consultants based in Europe, and we are using it for ourselves and our clients.
What is most valuable?
The cloud feature is very beneficial, and the scalability performance feature is excellent. There are many features available for integrations, though I am not part of the integration team. The UI part is very user-friendly, and it functions as a low code, no code platform. As someone who is not a coder, I find the platform easy to use.
What needs improvement?
We are quite satisfied with the solution. The only issue we face is with the workflow feature. Every time we need to deploy our workflows, we must contact the Reltio Support Center. We have to rely on their availability and write to them to receive the required JAR files. They are slow to respond to these requests.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for approximately two years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
We did not face any deployment issues.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We are quite satisfied with the stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We did not face any scalability issues.
How are customer service and support?
The support team is slow to respond when we need assistance with workflow deployments. We must rely on their availability and contact them to receive the required JAR files. This has been a recurring issue we have encountered several times. Apart from this concern, the service is acceptable.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used Informatica years ago, but it was an expensive option, so we switched to TIBCO EBX. Due to internal problems at TIBCO, we decided to switch to another MDM platform. Since we knew the founder of Reltio Cloud, we were offered to try their solution. We are now very satisfied with Reltio Cloud and intend to continue using it.
What other advice do I have?
Our team consists of 35 plus members spread across India, Vietnam, and Portugal in Europe. The solution runs on AWS Cloud and is a well-known platform. TIBCO EBX has suffered some losses last year. This review rates Reltio Cloud as 7 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?