August 4, 2006 -- Jill Dyche and Evan Levy's new book "Customer Data Integration: Reaching a Single Version of the Truth", Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2006 is now available.

Customer Data Integration: Reaching a Single Version of the Truth is a guide to customer data integration (CDI) for managers and IT practitioners who have skimmed the edges of integrated customer data with their data warehouses or CRM systems, but have not yet tackled CDI head-on. It is heavy on examples and checklists, and includes 15 case studies from companies such as XO Communications, ING, Amgen, Overstock.com and AARP that have seen the payback from integrated customer information.

From the Inside Flap

Customers represent any firm's most precious value-creating asset. To keep these valuable assets, businesses must maximize their value to each customer by taking each customer's point of view and turning that incoming tide of data into usable, coherent information. Packed with readable real-world examples, checklists, and tools, Customer Data Integration encompasses the new set of technologies designed to help companies conveniently and cost-efficiently turn the raw material of customer data into usable, reliable customer information.

Written by internationally renowned authors and enterprise data experts Jill Dyché and Evan Levy, Customer Data Integration defines CDI—what it is and why it's a critical solution to customer-focused business programs—and puts it in context with other emerging trends, such as Master Data Management (MDM). By explaining why customer data integration is so important for business strategy and growth, the book also helps inform decisions regarding vendor selection, CDI development, and usage to help make organizations on both the business and IT fronts more agile.

A must-read for both executives and managers seeking to launch a CDI project or justify CDI to their organizations, Customer Data Integration covers:

What business problems CDI addresses and how it differs from other data enabling solutions

Challenges of data integration, and how to avoid the obstacles

Mastering data management and its role in customer data integration

How CDI works, and how to choose the right solution for your company

Why data governance and data stewardship are key to CDI success

Making the CDI business case

Avoiding the common pitfalls of CDI and MDM

CDI value propositions by industry

Customer Data Integration also includes a list of "Manager Do's and Don'ts" at the end of each chapter, which summarizes chapter points and provides experience-based tactics for putting concepts into practice. Plus, the book includes interviews with seasoned managers across multiple industries about their CDI journeys, the challenges they confronted, their wins, their "gotchas," and what the successful delivery meant to their companies. Learn from the pros and unleash the power of CDI in your organization.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Customer Data Integration

"Customers are the heart of any business. But we can't succeed if we develop only one talk addressed to the 'average customer.' Instead we must know each customer and build our individual engagements with that knowledge. If Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is going to work, it calls for skills in Customer Data Integration (CDI). This is the best book that I have seen on the subject. Jill Dyché is to be complimented for her thoroughness in interviewing executives and presenting CDI."

—Philip Kotler, S. C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

"In this world of killer competition, hanging on to existing customers is critical to survival. Jill Dyché's new book makes that job a lot easier than it has been."

—Jack Trout, author, Differentiate or Die

"Jill and Evan have not only written the definitive work on Customer Data Integration, they've made the business case for it. This book offers sound advice to business people in search of innovative ways to bring data together about customers—their most important asset—while at the same time giving IT some practical tips for implementing CDI and MDM the right way."

—Wayne Eckerson, The Data Warehousing Institute author of Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business

Whatever business you're in, you're ultimately in the customer business. Nomatter what your product, customers pay the bills. But the strategic importance of customer relationships hasn't brought companies much closer to a single, authoritative view of their customers. Written from both business and technicalperspectives, Customer Data Integration shows companies how to deliver anaccurate, holistic, and long-term understanding of their customers through CDI.

About the Authors

Jill Dyché is a partner and cofounder of Baseline Consulting, a professional services firm that helps companies solve problems with data. She is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and business consultant, and a frequent lecturer and writer on the business value of technology. Jill is responsible for delivering key industry and client advisory services. Her two previous books were e-Data and The CRM Handbook, the authoritative guide to customer relationship management.

Evan Levy is a partner and cofounder of Baseline Consulting. In addition to his executive management responsibilities, Evan is actively involved in managing Baseline project teams and guiding client solutions delivery, as well as advising vendors and VC firms on emerging IT trends. He is a faculty member of The Data Warehousing Institute and a contributor to DM Review's "Ask the Experts" feature.