Reltio match and merge
Learn about Reltio's match and merge functionalities.
These master data management (MDM) features help you get your data to that golden state, where it's the single source of truth.
- An entity is a record, which:
Has attributes, like simple, nested, and reference
Is treated as a node in the Reltio graph
- A profile is a broader concept. It refers to the:
Entity of interest
Entities (nodes) connected directly to the entity via relationships
Entity’s interaction data
So these differences make a profile the real 360 degree expression of an entity. We do use the word profile a lot when discussing match rules, because it's appropriate. Reltio match rules easily take advantage of attributes from related entities via the reference attribute architecture.
Go for the gold!
The different ways that you can process data entities are a critical part of mastering data. These processes identify and reconcile variations of the same or similar entities. This potential duplication is typically caused by pulling data in from different sources and systems. The endgame you’re working toward is one where you can collect, compare, and consolidate entities that are very close in nature, so you end up with what’s commonly called a golden copy of the record. Say, for example, multiple entities for the Name type exist in your data. These entities use variations of a name, like Bill Fuller, William Fuller, W. A. Fuller. These are possibly the same person. The match and merge process consolidates and merges entities into a single record
- Match: Identifies and collects the occurrences of the same or similar entities.
- Merge: Compares and applies rules to combine entities, when possible.
- Survivorship: Enables certain entities to persist, even when there are similar entities.
Now let’s look at these processes more closely. You can use the power of matching functionality to support different needs. The classic usage scenario includes matching and merging entities; these are often called profiles in Reltio. The system always maintains the loaded entities; that is, the loaded entities persist. The software runs these processes automatically.
Where can I use this stuff?
Reltio matching is versatile and ready to meet your business needs with agility and flexibility. You can use Reltio matching on profiles, both within a tenant to deduplicate them or externally from the tenant on records in a file. The software identifies records within that file that match to the profiles within a tenant. Matching is also used within the Reltio data tenant subscription service (DTSS) to match profiles stored within a data tenant to those within your tenant.
Clean up your act
Unlike other systems, the Reltio architecture operates in real-time. Before the match and merge processes occur, the profile-level cleansers in the software cleanses every profile created or updated. The three-step sequence of cleanse, match, and merge all occur in real-time. This behavior makes the Reltio platform ideal for real-time operational use within your data systems.
Get ready for the power -- the Reltio way!
The Reltio matching process matches and merges the appropriate data, and then uses the final results from the survivorship rules processing. Matching isn’t involved in the actual survivorship rules, it just uses the final results.
The Reltio match architecture handles the identification of profiles within the tenant that are semantically the same or similar.
- Match rules: Create entities, assign IDs, and then merge them using match rules in the Console Data Modeler (recommended method).
Match rules in the Data Modeler determine how to merge two or more entities and then combine them to build a consolidated profile. Reltio creates unique URIs for each entity before merging them. This enables you to unmerge them later if necessary. For more information, see topic Configure match rules overview .
Add an Entity type API: Specify whether to match and merge on-the-fly when you create an entity using the
matchBeforeCreateproperty. For more information, see topic Merge-on-the-fly.The
matchBeforeCreatemetadata property in this API specifies whether to match and merge entities before creating a Reltio entity and assigning it a unique URI. By default, this property is set to false as it prevents Reltio from creating two separate entities before merging them. If you set this property to true, be aware that you cannot subsequently unmerge these entities as the original entities were not assigned unique URIs. To resolve this, you must create a separate entity. For more information, see topic Add an entity type.
To continue this process, the Reltio merge architecture handles the subsequent merging of two or more profiles. The software aggregates what’s called the crosswalks, and the attribute values, relationships, and interactions from all the contributing profiles, and then combines them into the winning, or golden, profile.
To learn more, see Configure match rules overview, Design survivorship rules, and Analyze Match Rules.