Address management

Address management is a crucial aspect of maintaining data accuracy and associating entities (such as parties, products, and contracts) with unique addresses. Here's an overview of how address updates are handled and the default behavior:

• Unique Address Information: Open Cloud MDM ensures that address information is unique, and multiple entities can be associated with the same address. This means that a single address can be linked to thousands of entities.
• Address Updates: When an address is updated through Open Cloud MDM, it's important to understand that the default behavior is not to assume that the change automatically applies to all entities associated with that address. Address updates should be carefully planned and executed using a well-thought-out business process.
• Handling Address Changes: The default behavior for handling address changes for a party involves checking if any existing address records in the database have the same values in their business-key fields (such as Address_Line_One, City, Country) as the address in the update request. Two cases may apply:
1. Case A: Address Match Found: If the system finds a match, it will use the existing address without applying any updates to it and associate the party with it. This essentially means no address change notification is triggered. Note that even if non-business-key fields (like latitude, longitude, or extended fields) are supplied in the request, they won't be stored in the database since no update is expected on the address record.
2. Case B: No Address Match Found: If no existing address match is found, the system will add a new address record based on the information provided in the request and associate the party with it. This results in an "add address" notification.
• Customizing Behavior: Open Cloud MDM allows customization of the default behavior related to Case A and Case B. You can plug in a customized version of the "address-search external rule" to include all critical fields of the address or its extensions. This customization can ensure that the combination of these fields is used to master the address records. As a result, more scenarios may fall into Case B, where new address records are created.

Open Cloud MDM provides a flexible approach to address management, allowing organizations to tailor how address updates are handled based on their specific business needs. This flexibility ensures that address updates are managed in a way that aligns with the organization's data governance and processes.