If the master data of an object, such as a person or a company, is combined from several sources, it is condensed in the so-called golden record. A persistent ID (PID) is assigned to the golden record. In the next step, the PID is transferred back to the source systems from which the master data was compiled. The PID allows the object to be uniquely identified across systems, since information such as names, for example, may not be unique. Let’s take the following example:
Example of distributed master data across different systems
| ERP | CRM | MA | |
| ID | 1234 | abcd | 1a2b |
| First Name | John | John | John |
| Last Name | Doe | Doe | D |
| E-Mail Address | john.doe@marini.de | – | j.doe@marini.de |
| Street | Kaiserstraße 57 | Kaiserstr. 57 | Kaiser Straße |
| City | Frankfurt am Main | Frankfurt am Main | Frankfurt |
| Country | Germany | GER | DE |
These three data records are now merged into one golden record, since they refer to the same person, namely John Doe from Marini Systems. All three records are given the same PID so that the record can be clearly identified as the same person across ERP, CRM and Marketing Automation.