Topco Associates Uses Information Builders' iWay Integrity Solutions to Spearhead Master Data Management Initiative

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jul 9, 2012) - Information Builders, a leader in business intelligence (BI) and analytics, information integrity, and integration solutions, today announced that Topco Associates, a leading provider of private-label solutions for the food industry, is using Information Builders' products and services to enforce consistency in its methods for creating, maintaining, and managing master data. Topco's Master Data Management (MDM) initiative, based on iWay Integrity Solutions, helps ensure that Topco's members can easily access current, accurate, and consistent data to improve vendor relationships. Topco is also implementing Information Builders' WebFOCUS business intelligence platform to create dashboards and reports for its members.

Topco Associates LLC is a privately held grocery cooperative that provides aggregation, innovation, and knowledge-management solutions for its member-owners and customers, which include supermarket retailers, food wholesalers, and foodservice companies. Topco contracted with Information Builders as the backbone of an IT modernization project, with the goal of enhancing information-management practices and improving results for its members. By creating a single reference point for common data elements, Topco is enabling fast and accurate reporting to improve fill rates and other important metrics. Topco's MDM initiative will ensure that its WebFOCUS reports and dashboards always display current, accurate, and consistent data to better serve its members and improve vendor relationships.

"We are using data to drive our business transformation," said Russell C. Mann, a director in the Finance department at Topco Associates. "After a careful evaluation, we engaged Information Builders to construct a sustainable data model that helps us deliver accurate information for both operational and reporting needs. Information Builders lets us expose our data consistently, so people can respond to it effectively. By the time we finish this project, not only will we have great reporting assets through WebFOCUS, but also a fully integrated MDM suite that will allow us to apply data quality technology from the source of the data to the reporting of the data."  

Previously Topco relied on proprietary systems for creating, maintaining, and managing master data. With critical information residing in many disparate systems, it took too long to develop new products. Core data domains were not well aligned and IT pros had to manually apply business rules and governance policies to eliminate redundancies. By creating a master view of foundational data elements, Topco can ensure that all related information systems share consistent data. Topco is working closely with Information Builders to commercialize the new MDM solution as part of Information Builders' new Omni product line.

"By aligning the core domains shared by many of its critical information systems, Topco is leveraging its data assets and creating a single version of truth," said Gerald Cohen, president and CEO of Information Builders. "Integrated data integration and data quality technology enables this industry leader to improve the services that it offers to its members."

About Topco Associates LLC
Topco Associates LLC is an $11.6 billion, privately held company that provides aggregation, innovation, and knowledge management solutions for leading food industry member-owners and customers. Topco leverages the collective volume, knowledge, and commitment of these companies to create a competitive advantage in the marketplace by reducing costs and offering winning business-building capabilities.

About Information Builders
Information Builders helps organizations transform data into business value. Our software solutions for business intelligence and analytics, integration, and data integrity empower people to make smarter decisions, strengthen customer relationships, and drive growth. Our dedication to customer success is unmatched in the industry. That's why tens of thousands of leading organizations rely on Information Builders to be their trusted partner. Founded in 1975, Information Builders is headquartered in New York, NY, with offices around the world, and remains one of the largest independent, privately held companies in the industry. Visit us at informationbuilders.com, follow us on Twitter at @infobldrs, like us on Facebook, and visit our LinkedIn page.