Master Data

Overview

Master data represents the core reference elements used across the Yarken platform. It forms the foundation for:

• spend distribution

• planning data (Budget, Forecast, and Workforce Planning)

• cost pool, tower, consumers rules and mapping

• reporting and analytics

All financial and consumption data relies on master data to ensure consistent classification and accurate cost allocation.

What is included in master data

The following datasets are part of Master Data:

• Accounts

• Cost Centers

• Vendors

• Solution Offerings

• Consumers (Business Units)

These datasets are interconnected and referenced throughout the Spend, Budget, and Forecast model.

Key considerations

• Master data must be loaded before transactional data (such as spend or consumption).

• Mandatory fields must be populated for successful uploads.

• By default, only active records are visible in the application.

• Changes to master data impact all dependent mappings and reports.

Master data types

Accounts

Accounts represent financial line items from the general ledger, such as expenses, revenue, or liabilities.

Usage in Designer

• Mandatory during spend upload

• Used in:

  • Cost Pool rules

  • Tower rules

  • filtering logic

Mandatory fields during configuring accounts:

• Account Code

• Account Name

Account hierarchy

In addition to the Account Code and Account Name, Yarken supports a multi-level account hierarchy through Account Level 1 to Account Level 5.

These levels allow organizations to group accounts into progressively more detailed financial categories, making it easier to analyze and report spend across different levels of the chart of accounts.

The hierarchy can be used to:

• Group similar accounts for reporting and analysis.

• Filter data in Analytics cubes and reports.

Hierarchy structure

Cost Centers

Cost Centers represent organizational units such as departments, teams, or business functions where costs are incurred.

Usage in Designer

• Mandatory for spend uploads

• Used in:

  • Cost Pool rules

  • Tower allocation

  • reporting dimensions

Mandatory fields during configuring Cost Centers:

• Cost Center Code

• Cost Center Name

Vendors

Vendors represent external suppliers providing products or services.

Usage in Designer

• Used in:

  • Cost Pool rules

  • Tower rules

Mandatory fields during configuring Vendors:

• Vendor Code

• Vendor Name

Solution Offerings

Solution Offerings represent the services delivered by IT, typically grouping multiple applications, platforms, or capabilities. It forms the service layer of the TBM model.

Usage in Designer

• Used in:

  • Solution mapping

  • Consumer allocation

  • Companion Metrics linking

Mandatory fields during configuring Solution Offerings:

• Offering ID

• Offering Name

• Solution Name

Manage Solution Offering Metrics

The Manage Solution Offering Metrics option allows you to associate one or more Companion Metrics with a Solution Offering. These metrics can then be used for reporting and performance tracking within the Solution Portfolio and Solution TCO dashboards.

By linking metrics to Solution Offerings, organizations can monitor operational KPIs alongside solution cost data and evaluate whether service-level targets or consumption expectations are being met.

Why use Solution Offering Metrics?

Solution Offering Metrics help provide additional business context beyond solution spend. They can be used to track key operational measures such as:

• Number of active users

• Transaction volumes

• Service requests

• Storage consumption

• API calls

• Availability or uptime percentages

• Other business or operational KPIs

Once linked, these metrics can be analyzed alongside solution cost data in the Solution Portfolio and Solution TCO reports.

Add a metric to a Solution Offering

To link a Companion Metric to a Solution Offering:

1. Navigate to Master Data > Solution Offerings.

2. Locate the required Solution Offering.

3. Click the Manage Solution Offering Metrics icon in the Actions column.

4. In the Manage Solution Offering Metrics window, select a metric from the Metrics drop-down list.

5. Click Add.

6. The selected metric is added to the Solution Offering and displayed in the metrics list.

The list displays:

• Metric Name

• Target Value

• Unit of Measure

Remove a metric from a Solution Offering

To remove a linked metric:

1. Open Manage Solution Offering Metrics for the required Solution Offering.

2. Locate the metric in the list.

3. Click the Delete icon.

4. Confirm the action if prompted.

Removing the metric only removes the association between the Solution Offering and the metric. The metric definition remains available in Companion Metrics.

Viewing linked metrics

After metrics are linked to a Solution Offering, they are available for reporting within the Solution Portfolio and Solution TCO dashboards.

The Solution Offering Metrics visual can be used to:

• View metrics associated with a Solution Offering.

• Compare planned and actual metric values.

• Review operational performance against agreed targets.

This helps organizations evaluate both the financial and operational performance of their solutions from a single reporting view.

Consumers

Consumers (Business Units) represent the internal or external entities that use IT services. The Consumer is the final allocation layer in the model and enables chargeback reporting. It provides visibility into who consumes IT spend.

Usage in Designer

• Used in Solution-to-consumer mapping

Mandatory fields during configuring Consumers:

• Consumer ID

• Consumer Name

Next step

Load master data

Related content

Manage master data