IBM Master Data Management (MDM) Server, which Big Blue is announcing today, is designed to simplify getting data from a variety of sources into service-oriented architecture (SOA) applications.

While SOA environments need to access data throughout the enterprise, that is easier said than done, explained David Corrigan, product manager, master data management at IBM.

"One of the things we found with the SOA community, with architects and data architects, is that as organizations begin to build services that cross multiple applications that often drives the demand for master data," he said.