The Road To A Successful PIM Implementation

A PIM implementation that works is a planned one. From more than 20,000 hours of PIM consultancy, the shape of a good implementation is clear enough that we standardized it.

You get here after the need is identified, the PIM team is in place, and the tool is chosen. Without a plan, the work that went into those steps does not survive contact with the project. The guide below is four phases. We treat it like navigation: destination first, then the route, then checks along the way, then arrival.

Phase 1: Analysis

The analysis sets the destination and the route. With the stakeholders, you describe the situation you want and the purpose of the implementation. You look at current processes, where they can improve, the exceptions, the data model that fits, and the result the project has to deliver.

Workshops are how that gets mapped. The questions are concrete:

• Where does a new product come from?
• How does data move through the organization today?
• What is recorded about an article, and for what purpose?
• Where should an article end up?
• What does the IT landscape look like, and which integrations exist or are wanted?
• On one e-commerce platform or several, a supplier portal, brochures, marketplaces?
• What data is available now, and which systems are the source?

Each workshop feeds a Solution Design Document. That document guides the implementation and includes a global plan. The route is set.

Phase 2: Implementation

With the route set, the build starts.

Data model

The data model comes first. It shows what an article looks like in the software, what the software can do to make the process efficient, which data exists, and at which level that data sits.

Incoming data flows

Once the model is fixed, incoming flows are built. An article is often created in the ERP with a small set of characteristics. That article has to land in the PIM so it can be enriched. Supplier data is another incoming flow, and it is a second or third check of the data model.

Data migration

Migration sits next to those incoming flows. Article data usually starts spread across systems. The point is to keep it and raise quality where you can. A typical case: the source stores an attribute as free text, and the data model defines it as a list. Free entry created many values that mean the same thing. The migration is where those values are made uniform.

Outgoing data flows

After migration, export starts. An article has to be available on many platforms. Because the PIM is the single source of truth, those platforms have to receive the data from the PIM.

Processes

The PIM process itself has to be examined. The software should support that process, so the setup follows the process, not the other way around. A workflow says who enriches or validates which data, and when a product counts as complete. That is the focus in the last part of the implementation.

Phase 3: Project management

Navigation software shows distance left, an arrival time, and a shorter route when one exists. A PIM project needs the same: where it is, where it is going, and which alternative is still open. Progress is measured continuously, and a dashboard shows the state. You adjust from that, not from memory.

Reviews and retrospectives

Reviews and retrospectives are the stops. A review shows what is done and what the team will take on next. A retrospective is the reflection:

• What have we done so far?
• What went well?
• How do we use that in the next period?
• What should change?

Phase 4: Go-live

The data model is organized, incoming and outgoing flows are clear, and the data is ready to migrate. Before go-live, users are trained on the new PIM.

User acceptance testing

Test the PIM the way you test any other system. Run the user stories in a production-like setup, with users at each level signing off when a test passes. Automated workflows get the same treatment, from product-data approval through publishing and into marketing campaigns, with sign-off from the technical and business users who own them.

Localization and cut-over

If the PIM will be used in more than one geography, configure the localization requirements. When testing is satisfactory, mark the PIM production-ready and go live.

After go-live we stay involved: aftercare on the implementation, and the next steps. The system then moves into maintenance, where small changes happen without stopping the business. The base you laid is what makes later data work easier.