MAINTENANCE OF MASTER DATA BY ANALYSIS OF OPERATIONAL DATA

1 . A computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one programmable processor, cause the at least one programmable processor to perform operations comprising:

accessing, prior to execution of a second instance of a first business activity, first operational data produced during completion of a first instance of at least one of the first business activity and a second business activity of an organization, the first and the second business activity being modeled using master data having at least one master data attribute in common with the first business activity;

deriving the master data attribute based on at least the first operational data; and

modeling the second instance of the first business activity using the derived master data attribute.

2 . A computer program product as in claim 1 , wherein the derived master data attribute comprises at least one of a master data value and a master data structure.

3 . A computer program product as in claim 1 , wherein the derived master data attribute comprises at least one of a bill of operations and a bill of materials, and the deriving of the master data attribute comprises refining a first version of the master data attribute used in modeling of the first instance to create a second version of the master data attribute for use in modeling of the second instance.

4 . A computer program product as in claim 1 , wherein the deriving of the master data attribute is further based on a plurality of additional operational data, and the deriving further comprises applying a statistical analysis method to the first operational data and the plurality of additional operational data.

5 . A computer program product as in claim 1 , wherein the business activity is modeled using at least one of a business process, a business scenario, and a business object, the at least one of the business process, the business scenario, and the business object comprising the master data attribute.

6 . A computer program product as in claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

storing, in a data storage device, the first operational data and second operational data produced during completion of the second instance of the first business activity;

retrieving at least the first operational data and the second operational data from the data storage device prior to execution of a third instance of the first business activity;

re-deriving the master data attribute based on at least the first operational data and the second operational data; and

modeling the third instance of the first business activity using the re-derived master data attribute.

7 . A system comprising:

at least one programmable processor; and

a machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one programmable processor, cause the at least one programmable processor to perform operations comprising:

accessing, prior to execution of a second instance of a first business activity, first operational data produced during completion of a first instance of at least one of the first business activity and a second business activity of an organization, the first and the second business activity being modeled using master data having at least one master data attribute in common with the first business activity;

deriving the master data attribute based on at least the first operational data; and

modeling the second instance of the first business activity using the derived master data attribute.

8 . A system as in claim 7 , wherein the derived master data attribute comprises at least one of a master data value and a master data structure.

9 . A system as in claim 7 , wherein the derived master data attribute comprises at least one of a bill of operations and a bill of materials, and the deriving of the master data attribute comprises refining a first version of the master data attribute used in modeling of the first instance to create a second version of the master data attribute for use in modeling of the second instance.

10 . A system as in claim 7 , wherein the deriving of the master data attribute is further based on a plurality of additional operational data, and the deriving further comprises applying a statistical analysis method to the first operational data and the plurality of additional operational data.

11 . A system as in claim 7 , wherein the business activity is modeled using at least one of a business process, a business scenario, and a business object, the at least one of the business process, the business scenario, and the business object comprising the master data attribute.

12 . A system as in claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:

storing, in a data storage device, the first operational data and second operational data produced during completion of the second instance of the first business activity;

retrieving at least the first operational data and the second operational data from the data storage device prior to execution of a third instance of the first business activity;

re-deriving the master data attribute based on at least the first operational data and the second operational data; and

modeling the third instance of the first business activity using the re-derived master data attribute.

13 . A computer-implemented method comprising:

accessing, prior to execution of a second instance of a first business activity, first operational data produced during completion of a first instance of at least one of the first business activity and a second business activity of an organization, the first and the second business activity being modeled using master data having at least one master data attribute in common with the first business activity;

deriving the master data attribute based on at least the first operational data; and

modeling the second instance of the first business activity using the derived master data attribute.

14 . A computer-implemented method as in claim 13 , wherein the derived master data attribute comprises at least one of a master data value and a master data structure.

15 . A computer-implemented method as in claim 13 , wherein the derived master data attribute comprises at least one of a bill of operations and a bill of materials, and the deriving of the master data attribute comprises refining a first version of the master data attribute used in modeling of the first instance to create a second version of the master data attribute for use in modeling of the second instance.

16 . A computer-implemented method as in claim 13 , wherein the deriving of the master data attribute is further based on a plurality of additional operational data, and the deriving further comprises applying a statistical analysis method to the first operational data and the plurality of additional operational data.

17 . A computer-implemented method as in claim 13 , wherein the business activity is modeled using at least one of a business process, a business scenario, and a business object, the at least one of the business process, the business scenario, and the business object comprising the master data attribute.

18 . A computer-implemented method as in claim 13 , further comprising:

storing, in a data storage device, the first operational data and second operational data produced during completion of the second instance of the first business activity;

retrieving at least the first operational data and the second operational data from the data storage device prior to execution of a third instance of the first business activity;

re-deriving the master data attribute based on at least the first operational data and the second operational data; and

modeling the third instance of the first business activity using the re-derived master data attribute.

19 . A computer-implemented method as in claim 13 , wherein the at least one of the accessing, the deriving, and the modeling are performed by at least one programmable processor.